Rock band Prizzy Prizzy Please played songs based on dinosaur policemen and Shaquille O’Neal on Saturday at Broad Ripple Music Fest.
Saxophone was front and center during the energetic performance at Locals Only, reinforcing an impression that Prizzy Prizzy Please embodies the spirit of Johnny Socko – the 1990s party ska band that played a reunion show to launch the festival a night earlier.
Both bands were founded in Bloomington, the college town that apparently cultivates cleverness, musicality and fun.
But while Socko’s era allowed an over-the-top goofiness, Prizzy Prizzy Please isn’t ostentatious when driving its steamroller of the absurd.
Prizzy drummer Scott McNiece supplied plenty of showmanship, decimating various parts of his kit with fast and furious strikes.
Fellow Bloomington-based act Early Day Miners showed off a new dance-friendly sound at Locals Only.
While epic soundscapes have been condensed for easier consumption on current album “The Treatment,” stylish guitar textures persist.
Broad Ripple Music Fest presented more than 90 acts at 13 venues. Funds raised during the event will be donated to Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc.
Snapshots of other Broad Ripple Music Fest action:
* At Birdy’s, the bedroom-themed New Wave of Beta Male demanded attention.
Lingerie-clad band members Allison Hazel and Jessica Hack were placed in a wood crate at the end of Beta Male’s performance, implying they’re merely props.
The flippant gesture isn’t a reflection of reality. The women are major players, proven by Hazel’s athletic and engaging neon hula-hoop routine.
Vocalist-drummer David Hazel -- Allison’s husband -- is the real mystery. His sharply crafted songs seem to haunt more than seduce.
One paraphrased passage: I’m not perfect, but no one else is like me, and that’s worth something.
* The city’s progressive hip-hop scene gathered at Northside News, where a rarely seen beats battle – in which 12 producers pit their work against one another – was part of the program.
Among MC performances, Grey Granite’s exuberant interpretation of pop culture resembled Girl Talk with rhymes.
Twin Monster delivered its signature deep thoughts and mind-expanding beats. The trio may have a new party classic on its hands, however, with “Spittin’ in yer Eye” -- which samples and scrambles April March’s mid-’90s nugget “Chick Habit.”
* At independent record store Luna Music, A Caesar Holiday played instrumentals that featured equal parts grit and sparkle. Guitarists Ben Masbaum and Andrew Rittenhouse handled the grit in contrast to violin player Lauren Eison’s sparkle. The inspired companions were suggestive of Sonic Youth paired with John Cale.
Later at Luna, the Abner Trio blasted masculine emo – in the style of Jawbreaker and Rites of Spring, not Fall Out Boy – in fits and starts.
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