POP MUSIC REVIEW : Jesus Jones: A Techno Focus

“We know what year it is, unlike most other bands,” proclaimed Jesus Jones leader Mike Edwards late in the English band’s Universal Amphitheatre show on Thursday.

Arrogant, perhaps, but he has a point. While bands of all stripes continue to recycle 20-year-old styles, Jesus Jones at least is trying to keep its focus on the ‘90s, with its blend of computer-driven and “real” guitar rock.

But Edwards might want to make sure his own calendar keeps moving forward: In this show, the songs from the recent “Perverse” album--which belabors the theme of finding human values in a techno world--suffered in comparison to the wide-eyed likes of “Right Here, Right Now” and the Kinks-ish “Welcome Back Victoria” from 1991’s far superior “Doubt.”

Worse, the concert itself showed little live progress since the band’s first U.S. tour of 1990. Back then, all the pointless bouncing around could be chalked up to a rookie act not sure what to do with itself on stage. Today there’s no excuse for the empty antics, which are all the more disappointing given that Edwards, despite the missteps on the new album, remains one of the most promisingly ambitious songwriters of new British rock.

Also somewhat disappointing was opening act Stereo MC’s. The English hip-hop-soul group, fronted by the amiably scruffy rapper Rob Birch, matched Soul II Soul for hypnotic grooves in its best moments, but after a few songs, it all started to sound the same.