Kaki King wields ax of the gods in Los Angeles

May 22, 2010, at the El Rey Theatre

By Melissa Bobbitt
Published: May 25th, 2010 | 8:30pm

It would be easy to think you had Kaki King all figured out just by looking at her. Teensy frame, acoustic guitar? Jewel wannabe, right?

Wrong. Oh, so wrong.

In anyone else's hands, the instrument would just be a bulbous, metallic six-string. In King's seasoned hands, it's a drum kit, a rapid-fire weapon, and a vehicle for sounds you've never heard before. Listening to King’s recorded material is pretty cool; you might pick up on the percussive elements and her precision. But it's the live setting where she is elevated from curio to creative goddess.

Even before King properly took the stage, tour mates An Horse chatted about her prowess. "She's pretty radical," singer/guitarist Kate Cooper gushed before King appeared with a lap steel guitar in tow to jam with the poppy Australian openers. "Also, we paid her twenty bucks," drummer Damon Cox said coyly.

An Horse's 40-minute performance was admirable in itself. Drum & guitar pairs can be hit-or-miss, but this duo’s combo of galloping beats and cozy lyrics is exquisite. They culled songs from their infectious 2009 release Rearrange Beds (Mom+Pop), which brought to life cheery harmonies and crystal-clear instrumentation. And they both rocked plaid shirts like nobody else can.

When it was time for her set, King was in another arena altogether—and multiple ones at that. No genre was out of her reach: syncopated math metal, busk-ready balladry, languid shoegaze—she ruled it all. The atmosphere was further accentuated by the malleable drumming of Jordan Perlson and the mad-scientist setup of Dan Brantigan. (He was surrounded by a force field of synthesizers, trumpets, theremins, and a bong-like device called an EVI that reverberated with warm, dripping tones.)

King was at her most invigorating during solo numbers that featured just her, a guitar, and 10 insanely nimble fingers. "Now I have you all to myself!" she cackled impishly. And like some mythical creature, she hypnotized the audience with her talents. She brandished her title as one of the best fret-tappers in the world on "Playing with Pink Noise" (off the 2004 Red Ink release Legs To Make Us Longer). And she was scathingly funny, too. Amid slapping the hell out of her instrument, King paused mid-song and scolded the "little lesbian Asian paparazzi" in the front row for taking too many flash-enabled photos. King then resumed to finish with flair and proclaimed, "We totally butt-fucked San Francisco with that song. It was awesome."

Awesome doesn't begin to describe what Kaki King does in concert. Though best known for her walloping instrumentals, she's a scratch pop songwriter, too. With her kittenish vocals, the new offerings on her latest release Junior (Rounder) recalled a meatier Juliana Hatfield. Later, King went the Postal Service route for "Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers" (Until We Felt Red - Velour, 2006), where she looped automated beats into her array of pedals and slunk into the crowd to pogo among all the "shorties," as she lovingly referred to her petite female fans. (She stands at a mighty 5-foot-1.) In this symbolic moment, it was like a goddess descending from Mount Olympus to get her bacchanal on with revelers.

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Kaki King official site

Kaki King MySpace page

An Horse official site

An Horse MySpace page

Rounder Records

Mom+Pop Records