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Fun Fun Fun reveiw: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
Take a look at Twitter and you’ll see that one of Saturday’s big draws at Fun Fun Fun was Big Freedia, whose gender-blurring bounce act had the most unlikely bearded dudes shaking their money-makers on the cozy blue stage. Freedia wasn’t the only freaky presence of the day, however. Over on the orange stage, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti gave Freedia a run for her money, though for Pink, who was wearing a black floral-print blouse, a much less-color coordinated one next to Freedia’s red leather entourage.
Haunted Graffiti began as a fairly underground solo recording project, and the band that appeared Saturday at Fun Fun Fun is a relatively new one, with Pink holding court over an assembly of musicians, including a couple synth player/guitarists, a bassist, a drummer wearing a creepy bear hat and a saxophonist and trumpet player. It’s a bold effort at translating Ariel Pink’s music, which, even at its most poppy and accessible, is produced with as if taking place in a haze, a purgatory between today and lost radio schlock of yesteryear (he’s also considered a sort of godfather to acts such as Neon Indian and Washed Out). Rather than attempt to recreate that in a live setting, the band threw everything they had straight into the audience, and the result was 40 minutes of funky chaos, with Pink running around the stage singing offering random commentary, dropping his mic into the saxophone and shouting orders at the band.
The band, which was in on the joke, nailed the set, variously delivering jarring tempo changes, head-spinning noise and infectious groove. On one level, Pink situates himself somewhere between “Thriller” and “Ghostbusters,” and the saxophone appropriately added something of a Ray Parker, Jr. feel to a set that included songs from the new album including “Beverly Kills” and “Fright Night.” On “Round and Round,” which ranks among the catchiest of the new material, the band huddled together at the front of the stage for the “na na naaa na” chorus. Compared to a lot of the other acts playing this weekend, they were an unlikely mix of performers, lacking any sort of hipster indie fashion sensibility, and flaunting it for the crowd.
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