Tony Anthony & his Malvivants - Cigarbox Planetarium -- Black Cat - Feb 21 2012

Cigarbox Planetarium - A duo hits the stage on guitar and keyboards. There is no vocal microphones and a set list of cards on a coat hanger. But I can't quite read it from my table in the back, so I will see if I can figure it out...
Song 1 - Sounds like the lady playing organ at my old minor league hockey arena with loungey electric guitar and rudimentary drum machine.
Song 2 - Two guys from Devo playing the Munsters theme song from memory.
Song 3 - Sounded like the background from a 1958 cartoon (they mentioned it was from a Fellini film--I was close).
Song 4 - Secret Agent Man played backwards by two guys from Goblin.
Song 5 - Duane Eddy jamming with Lurch at Addams family mansion.
Song 6 - Joao Gilberto gives 1/2 hour bossa nova lesson to two talented precocious teens.
Song 7 - Michael McDonald and Skunk Baxter FINALLY play a song worth listening to.
Song 8 - Chris Spedding playing with the old guy that was on local commercials in Dayton, Ohio trying to sell us organs from BHA.
Song 9 - OK, this is "Telstar"--I know this one. It was produced by Joe Meek who murdered his landlady before turning the gun on himself.
Song 10 - David Mamet dreaming of David Lynch dreaming of writing a new soundtrack.
Song 11 - Famous Monsters of Filmland commissions Ed Cobb to develop a theme song.
And then they did a couple with Tony Anthony singing and left to gracious applause from those of us who enjoyed their highly unique take on retro sounds.

Tony Anthony & his Malvivants - Well it took some digging (about three searches and a couple more clicks) but I see that this band is also known as the Bobwhites. They are an older group playing older music. Early '60s mostly, before those damn hippies moved in. Nattily attired and in Fat Tuesday party hats (I do need to get out less so I can pay attention to what else is going on in the world), they offer up many recognizable tunes... "A Town Without Pity", "Route 66", "Mona Lisa" etc.... Two of the guys look like attorney friends of mine that I used to work with. Aside from that bit of creepiness, these guys pretty much just lay out the goods. It all sounds like it emerged from a time capsule which is the intent. The guitarist has some nice licks and everyone else holds it together. The crowd is up to 25 at its max, but there were more people dancing than crowds of 200. New Orleans may have been more hopping last night, but there was a quirky little scene right here at the Black Cat.

Quote of the Night: Two people arguing about the mannequins overheard on the way home... "No, not those mannequins... the gay mannequins."