By Amy Price
A&E Editor
With her right arm at a 90-degree angle and her left hand stretched over the theremin antenna, Yvonne Lambert recreated the eerie sounds that are a staple of The Octopus Project’s songs. The Austin native band, rocked the stage at the Granada Theater Feb. 11.
The Octopus Project recently released their fourth album. Their music style is indietronic, which is a mix between indie, electronica, rock and pop. The sound is a unique mix of digital and electronic with minimal vocals.
The group’s music is set up to work in layers, according to www.theoctopusproject.com. Each layer is projected through eight speakers with synchronized visuals.
The band performed its most popular songs – including “Truck,” “I Saw the Bright Shinies” and “The Adjuster.”
The four-person group took turns switching instruments. It might be easy to create electronic music, but it is not easy to pull it off as well as this band. A theremin, an instrument known for producing spooky electronic pitches was interesting to watch because it is played with no physical contact.
The Octopus Project’s energetic performance was nearly flawless despite a last-minute keyboard emergency. Band member Josh Lambert apologized for the brief delay between songs, and said the band had to replace all the keyboards that day.
The crowd danced to the beat and gave a roaring round of applause after each song. At the end of the set the audience yelled for more and the band played a two-song encore.
Dallas’ own Mystery Skulls, and Houston’s Wild Moccasins were the opening acts of the show. The Mystery Skulls are an up-and-coming band to watch. Frontman Luis Dubcek’s vocal range made for easy listening and enjoyable dance music.
Wild Moccasins singer Zahira Gutierrez sang with melodic precision. Her voice was drowned out by an out-of-tune voice from singer, guitarist Cody Sawn, but she was still lovely to listen to.
Central Track, the new Dallas music and nightlife online guide used the event as a launch party for their website www.centraltrack.com. Former Dallas Observer music editor, Pete Freedman, founded the site to provide Dallas with information on nightlife, music, shopping, food and events with a focus on the 18-35 demographic, according to www.centraltrack.com.
Stickers, T-shirts and other promotional merchandise was distributed by Central Track, and Pete Freedman introduced The Octopus Project and invited guests to continue the festivities next door at Sundown at Granada.
