Honest Abe

A A A Comments By John Garmon Wednesday, Jul 25 2007

If you come to tonight's Abe Vigoda show expecting to see a certain 80-something character actor and Conan O'Brien regular who has been erroneously reported to be dead, you might be disappointed. Then again, anyone who would go see the real Vigoda would probably appreciate the absurd humor of a self-styled "tropical punk" band named after him playing at a show dubbed "Yoots," in reference to Joe Pesci's pronunciation of the word "youths" in My Cousin Vinny. Yoot-energy is here in spades tonight, with Abe Vigoda's members all hovering around either the drinking or voting age. Since 2003 (do the math there) the band has been delighting the cola-and-tall-can set at Los Angeles' underground venues like the Smell, and Il Corral (where audience members can swing around on a gym-class rope during shows), alongside bands like Silver Daggers and Mika Miko. Abe Vigoda shared a jerky, baby-Contortions sensibility with other Smell bands early on but quickly evolved into something more shimmery and flavorful. Imagine, if you will, a Talking Heads that grew out of no-wave rather than the punk scene in New York but still indulged their world beat and funk-pop sides. Or an Animal Collective that bangs songs out on garage-band instruments and watches too much late-night TV.

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Talbot Tagora, We Quit!, Hornet Leg, and John Thill also play.

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