POP REVIEWS : SILLY SISTERS

The Holy Sisters of the Gaga Dada may sound like some kind of anarchist transsexual theatrical troupe, but actually it’s a female quartet that’s become one of the most active bands on the alternative music club circuit. Befitting their status as the new sweethearts of the underground, the Sisters headlined a multi-act Valentine’s Day show at the Lhasa Club on Friday, playing Gothic camp-pop stuff that managed to be both ethereal and silly.

Resembling wacky housewives on a bender, the Sisters (recently relocated from Santa Cruz to Hollywood) combine garage-band clunkiness and art-band smarts in a sound that features spacey keyboards and frenetic percussion--there was some pretty serious finger cymbal action Friday.

Layering pretty, if monotonous, Debbie Harry-like vocals on top of haunted surf beats, the foursome redesigned oldies like “Oh Pretty Women” and played originals that had sensitive, probing lyrics drifting through the carnival-in-outer-space sound. Though the group is still in its formative stages in terms of technique, the Holy Sisters’ loopy but sincere crypto-psychedelic dance music adds a dash of color to an often lackluster local scene.