More Texture, Less Flash for Grillo

Brian Grillo pounded on a 50-gallon oil drum and hauled up dancers when he sang live with his band Extra Fancy, seemingly swept up in a primal punk-a-go-go. Extra Fancy called it quits last winter after a disappointing turn with a major label, but now Grillo’s back: On Saturday at the Foothill Club in Signal Hill, the singer-songwriter tested the legs of a stripped-down, simplified band so new it has no name.

Joined by Extra Fancy bassist D.A. Foster and Geraldine Fibbers bassist Bill Tutton (who traded bass and guitar duties), Brazil 2001 guitarist Bernard Yin and ex-Green Jello drummer Roy Staley, Grillo discarded the drum prop and performance-art pyrotechnics. He replaced the really big show with new, more textured songs.

The first clue that Grillo was onto something was the opening number, a sensual instrumental from the “Midnight Cowboy” soundtrack. The band later moved from raucous Iggy Pop-kissed hard-core punk to sultry soul, Stones-tinged boogie to a boisterous version of the late-’80s house hit, “Good Life.”

The tattooed and shaven-skulled Grillo admitted that he was still trying to figure out what to do onstage. “I’m used to having all this . . . baggage,” he told the smallish crowd. But it seems that he might be gaining confidence in the double-edged aspect of Extra Fancy that seemed to have promise, namely Grillo’s ability to merge sex, rage, desire and vulnerability into songs that howl.