POP MUSIC REVIEW : Thee Hypnotics Provide a Stone-Cold Troubadour Show
Between record company chief Rick Rubin’s weakness for classic-cum-retro acts (e.g., the Cult, Black Crowes) and the clone mentality of their record producer (Black Crowe Chris Robinson), it wasn’t exactly a surprise that Thee Hypnotics would come across like a Rolling Stones homage in their show at the Troubadour on Tuesday.
The English band wore the scruffy, surly look of the brat-era Stones like a costume, but didn’t have the charisma to bring it to life. The group’s variations on the Stones’ bedrock style lacked an individual stamp, and singer Jim Jones gave no sense of commenting on the poses he and the players were adopting--as if they were meant to be taken seriously at face value.
Even in this deeply indebted state, the band has come up with some flavorful moments on its last two albums, but at the Troubadour it bypassed its murky trance grooves and haunted lounge music and went straight to its more straightforward, harder-edged material, finding its best moment in the oozing country lament “Goodbye.”
* Thee Hypnotics play tonight at the Foothill, 1922 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, 9 p.m. $7. (310) 984-8349 .
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