Pop Music Review : An Uninhibited Soul Coughing

New York’s Soul Coughing straddles the lines between rap, jazz, funk and even techno to create a danceable mix topped with skewed social commentary. But in its quest to fuse all these elements with cleverness, the quartet--whose recent debut album has stirred up a lot of interest in the alternative rock world--often comes off smarmy and condescending.

Thursday at LunaPark the band showed far more natural flair, thanks to singer Michael Doughty’s charmingly oddball presence and the band’s uninhibited performance. Doughty ranted, recited and deadpanned lyrics in deep, craggy tones with a sharp biting edge.

His animated moves--from swaying back and forth as if on a rocking boat, to slow-motion arm movements like a rapper on Thorazine--brought the words and music to life. He sang of his love for bottled water, about a man mesmerized by the Bac-o-bits at a salad bar and even offered a long, spoken-word tale of L.A. life.

The band, complete with stand-up bass, keyboard, drums and Doughty on occasional guitar, struck consistently strong, motivating grooves. Sporadic samples skittered in and out of some numbers, while the band’s messy parody of free jazz was hilarious in its intentional confusion. Hopefully, Soul Coughing will be able to capture that quirky charisma on its next album.