POP REVIEW : Gene Loves Jezebel Serves Up Cartoon Rock

It’s tough to take Gene Loves Jezebel too seriously, which may help explain why the British band has become a bona fide darling of the teeny-popper set. At times, though, the group is just too tough to take, which may prevent it from becoming anyone else’s darling.

Watching the quintet Friday at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center, one couldn’t help thinking that this group would make a great subject for a Saturday morning cartoon show. But that would be redundant.

The band is fronted by twins Michael and Jay Aston, goofy glamsters who prowled the stage in all manner of ditzy sartorial splendor. In fact, given Jay’s lurching movements, multi-layer, multi-scarves garb--and his hair’s purplish-red hue--he’s operating perilously close to Emmett Kelly territory.

But the droves of little girls understand--just as the Astons fully understand adolescent Angst , reflected visually by their non-threatening, cuddly androgyny and lyrically by their simple tales about love and longing.

Now, most of Gene Loves Jezebel’s songs don’t have a thimbleful of substance. But the pouty pair is also smart enough to marry the simplistic stories and observations to bright, colorful, catchy music. New songs like “Twenty Killer Hurts” and “Suspicion” glided along with a swaying percussive drive, punctured by James Stevenson’s stabbing, sometime Edge-y guitar leads.

Still, with the hollowness of the songs, the Astons’ warbly, squawking vocals and their often-aimless antics, it didn’t take long for the set to obey the law of diminishing returns. Or, to put it another way: Although the band was only on stage for 70 minutes, it seemed much longer.

In contrast, the performance by second-billed Flesh For Lulu flew by too fast, which is one measure of how far this English outfit has come. In Lulu’s earlier years, the band used to get in its own way a lot, partly because it was wildly unfocused musically.

Not any more. The group has clearly cut its ties to the gloomy Batcave horror-rock that it once flirted with, though lead singer Nick Marsh was wearing a Batman shirt Friday. The group now tends to operate in one of two musical modes (meaty, big and bouncy R & B or lilting, propulsive pop)--and does so with considerable energy, skill and loopy humor.

Indeed, the two highlights of Lulu’s presentation came from each category: The band delivered a wonderfully rollicking version of “Siamese Twist,” the daffy dance romp-cum-paean to Siamese twins.

Then, saving the best for last, the group closed with “Postcard to Paradise” an enormously attractive tune that may serve as Lulu’s ticket to wide-scale success. Its set certainly suggested that they’re ready: By consolidating the band’s approach, Flesh For Lulu has widened its appeal.

And the quintet has a few other tricks up its tattered sleeves, including increasingly sharp songwriting and Marsh’s breezy charm. This could be one pick to click that won’t end up a flash in the pan.

Opening this three-bands-with-three-names bill was local quartet Lions & Ghosts, which is still figuring out how to play larger halls.

The foursome has the right idea in performing sinewy, majestic rockers like “Mary Goes Round” (more of those, please), and the wrong idea in leader Rick Parker striking all kinds of rock star poses (fewer of those, please).