Fitz & the Tantrums: cool look, appealing sound.
It's time to call indie retro soul a trend. We've already seen the fantastic Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and the horn-driven, party-pleasing Kings Go Forth (who return to the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday). Thursday was our first chance to experience Fitz & the Tantrums. Great moniker. Cool look ("Mad Men" suits and skinny ties). Appealing sound (imagine a fashions-conscious Britpop band trying to do 1970s American soul music. A Flock of R&B?) It added up to a fun party Thursday night at a soldout Bunkers Bar and Grill filled with a diverse crowd (from 20-something indie rock fans to 50-something old-school soul lovers) who'd discovered Fitz & the Tantrums on 89.3 the Current, satellite radio or "The Jimmy Kimmel Show." The Los Angeles sextet came across as a coed, guitar-less Hall & Oates (maybe that should be Hall & Oates without Oates). Frontman Michael Fitzgerald may look like the love child of Bryan Ferry and John Waters but he sounded like an unmacho Daryl Hall. He has a retro-cool new-romantic kind of look and appeal. Noelle Scaggs, the other singer who mostly does harmonies, has some of the most toned arms in the business, a sparkplug attitude and a serviceable voice -- and she can rock a mean tambourine. The best part was the road-tested tight band, featuring James King's honking baritone sax (and flute), Jeremy Ruzumna's cheesy '60s-sounding keyboards, John Wicks' in-the-pocket drums and Ethan Phillips' make-you-wanna-dance bass. It was a real clean, guitar-less sound. Echoes of great acts of the past could be heard throughout the set – the Animals, Joe Tex, Ike & Tina Turner, Otis Redding, the Four Tops. The Tantrums definitely have more pop influences than the Dap-Kings or Kings Go Forth, which gives them a more modern feel. It was not surprising that this Brit-loving outfit did Eurythmics' crowd-pleasing "Sweet Dreams" to keep the party going near the end of their 75-minute, no-encore set. More impressive on uptempo tunes than on ballads, the Tantrums closed with their radio favorite "Money Grabber." The invigorating hit so evoked Hall & Oates with cheaper equipment that I wanted to start singing "Money Eater."
