Pitchfork

Halloween weekend in Austin inevitably turns out hundreds of costumed carousers in the middle of Sixth Street, and last Saturday was no exception. Inside Emo's it was a more gentlemanly affair, with Voxtrot frontman Ramesh Srivastava taking the stage in a rented tux. Srivastava's "wife" (assuming no actual married couple would dress up like it was their wedding day again) appeared late in the show bearing full champagne glasses to celebrate keyboardist Jared Van Fleet's 24th birthday. A toast was made.

Throughout the set, Srivastava grinned and joked, obviously riding as high as the crowd was on the anticipation for the group's forthcoming EP Your Biggest Fan, and the band's ever-elusive debut LP, due sometime early next year. But despite all the loose talk and Saturday night good vibes, the band did not lose track of the quiet intensity that drives the best of their first two EPs.

Jason Chronis' bass rode a taut, quickly-moving course through the heart of each song, whether it was new material or previously released (the set was roughly split in half). That made up slightly for the diminished emphasis on Srivastava's vocals (which Chronis' basslines often mimic) in the live setting. It's not as if the singer's voice wasn't heard; it's just hard to follow the lyrics at a show, and more often than not Chronis could tell the story just as well.

If there could be one real complaint lodged against Voxtrot this time around it's that the rock side of their sound was amped up at the expense of their pop songcraft, and that at times the band did lose their knack for nuanced shifts and transitions. Each song's components barreled into one another, leaving a little desire for a quieter set. But that's a minor reservation, and it's only made in the face of a fun time, so really it's no complaint at all. It's spoiled to complain like that, actually!

For more photos and Voxtrot's remaining tour dates, see below.

Voxtrot dates:

11-01 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
11-02 San Francisco, CA - 330 Ritch (Popscene) *
11-03 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop (Loaded) (Ramesh Srivastava DJ set) $
11-04 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall &
11-05 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
11-06 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom !
11-06 New York, NY - Fat Baby (Ramesh Srivastava DJ set)
11-07 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom @

* with Love Is All
$ with Scissors for Lefty
& with Yellow Fever
! with Finally Punk, Annuals
@ with Mahogany, the Ballet