BRAZILIAN GIRLS DISAPPOINT WITH ALOOF PERFORMANCE – EMPIRE CONTROL ROOM – AUSTIN, TX (SHOW REVIEW)

Sabina Sciubba wants you to know that she is no ordinary front woman – but an artiste. The lead singer of the samba-inspired dance electronica group Brazilian Girls is renowned for her avant-garde style and sensual lyrics, which are seductively sung in English, Spanish, French, and German. While the allure of the chilled, ambient, tropicalia beats of Brazilian Girls sung by a sensual model/actress like Sabina got me through the door at Austin Empire Control Room on Friday, all expectations would come up woefully short as BG’s showmanship registered as virtually nonexistent.

The Dreamers – a Brooklyn pop-rock group would open for BG, and their sound couldn’t have been further from an appropriate opener.  While Dreamers are from Brooklyn, they are currently living in LA, and it shows. Their peppy rock style eschews originality and embraces the remnants of a Starting Line or Yellowcard cover band. Their posturing and manicured sound, appearance, and showmanship make this band a better fit for the role of generic, edgy band in a Hollywood coming-of-age movie rather than opening for BG.

With a not so healthy 45-minute space between the opener and their first song, BG finally took the stage in unceremonious fashion.  The band came on the stage first to tune their instruments and then segued into their first song, with much of the crowd not realizing that they had begun their set.

Sabina assumed the stage in almost absolute darkness, with the stage lights so dim that one would assume that it was a lighting malfunction. Unfortunately, darkness is the intriguing aesthetic the band purposely chose and the audience was left watching their silhouettes for the entire show.

Their first song “The Critic”, a new single from their impending album, ironically dictates not to lead one’s life being critical – I will just assume that Sabina has never been in the audience of her own show. BG’s second song spun out into a Spinal Tap- esque jazz odyssey that took ten minutes to land back into reality.

While BG has written great songs, and their sound and style is unique, their performance on Friday night at Empire Control Room was aloof and unfocused. Sabina repeatedly left the stage for elongated periods and then would listlessly drop profound advice to the audience like “Hope is good. Hope can go a long way guys!” and “I’m free, you’re free, we’re all free….Stay free guys!”

Sound problems plagued most of their set and BG excluded two of their biggest hits; “Lazy Lover” and “Have A Good Time”. While the band hasn’t released anything since their 2008 album, New York City, the time off is hardly a reason put forth a half-baked show. Hopefully this tour is just a tune-up for things to come.