Image by Claire Evans
Kiiiiiii in Portland, Monday, March 26, 2007
American culture at its rainbow brightest
By Claire Evans
Published: March 30th, 2007 | 10:41pm
Kiiiiiii are what happens when two jangly Japanese women with piercingly loud attitudes completely reinvent American pop culture. The stage dripping with tinsel garlands, tangled balls of yarn, DIY pompoms, hand puppets, funny sunglasses, and a large plush R2D2, Kiiiiii snapped into action with the grit of hardened professionals. To open their set, they launched into what can best be described as an a capella cheerleading routine, grinning and clapping rhythmically, their ponytails bouncing as they screamed athletic chants in garbled English.
It was dynamite, like watching a filtered, magnified, and beautifully distorted version of the 1980s. Lakin (Reiko Tada) chanted the Star Wars theme song between drum solos, while u.t. (Utako Tayama) sprung around the small stage at Portland's Towne Lounge like Kimmy Gibbler from Full House. For one particularly transcendent number, this banzai pep-squad raced through an almost-unrecognizable version of "We Are the World," screeching its chorus with the kind of squealing bombast people usually reserve for seeing a ghost.
Although the sound of their music is pretty undeniably punk — the combination of thunderous drums and stripped-down, screaming vocals is so bad ass, it warrants a medal — Kiiiiiii’s attitude is all Rainbow-Brite and lemonade-chugging moon-walks. The result? A Kiiiiiii show is the bitchin’ pajama party you always dreamed of, but were never invited to until now.
Issue #35
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