live: micachu & the shapes

British experimental pop group Micachu and the Shapes’ show last night at Le Poisson Rouge was noisy, harsh, funky and weird — and I mean all of that in the best way possible. The group’s debut LP, Jewellery, has been out for almost a year now but it’s still a little bit more mind-boggling with every listen. Just as much so live as on the record, this trio, led by vocalist/guitarist Mica Levi, thrives on dissonance and tension. The set started off a little slow, but caught up quickly in the flurry of whirring synths and cowbell clinks that is Jewellry‘s first track, “Vulture.”

Levi’s anti-melodic vocals, often sung/spoken with a sneer on her face, were backed by Marc Pell on drums and Raisa Khan on electronics and additional percussion, with Khan adding tom drums, cymbal crashes and wacky sound effects to Pell’s grooving rim clicks. There were several moments of pure noise and grit, and it was hard to understand most of the lyrics, but with plenty of hooks and danceable percussion bits to balance it out, the brief, 45-minute set sure packed a lot of punch.