Indecisive Youth, Tiger Lily & Fenix Down

A benefit for the Chico High music program, Wednesday night's show at LaSalle's showcased three bands of seemingly unrelated musical styles. Aside from local stalwarts Indecisive youth, I had never seen either of the two openers, Tiger Lily and Fenix Down.
Fenix Down created an odd image on the stage. Gazes were focused at invisible objects either at the back of the room or on the tops of their shoes. Radiohead was the obvious influence upon their stage presence, evident by the stickers on both guitarists' guitars, as well as the previously mentioned thoughtful gazes. But musically, an early Radiohead influence was minute, at best. Fenix Down seemed to be somewhat torn between pop tendencies and moments of rock. The vocalist had a very competent voice, but tended to shy from the microphone as the music got louder, rendering him somewhat hard to hear. Despite this, Fenix Down did have moments where it was clear what their musical goal was, and at these times, they were a pleasure.
Tiger Lily on the other hand, worked in much the opposite direction. At the start of their set, they appeared to be a decent band. Nothing spectacular, aside from the lead vocalist's bright red pleather pants. As for said vocalist, her voice was an uncanny replication of Gwen Stefani, a fact that was more endearing than one might think. But as the set wore on, the true nature of Tiger Lily became apparent. An Alanis Morrissette cover was immediately followed by a No Doubt cover (which was in fact a rather remarkable replication) which was in turn followed by an AC/DC cover. Not that there is anything wrong with cover songs, or even cover bands for that matter. But Tiger Lily seemed even more excited by these covers than by their own material and seemed to play them with increased vigor and feeling. It felt like a Bar Mitzvah.
Luckily, Indecisive Youth was on hand to rescue us all from the clutches of overt intellectualism and cheesy cover songs. The music of Indecisive Youth defies even the band's own name in its decisively happy nature. This happiness is exponentially augmented by the antics of guitarist Indecisive Nick, who spins way better than C.C. Deville ever could.
Say what you will about new-school punk; sure it might not be the most complicated or original style of music in the world, but when done right, I could think of few genres that provide such an overall feeling of well being and contentment. Indecisive Youth is new-school done right. Vocally, musically and visually, Indecisive Youth do new-school as well as any band I've seen, and I've seen a lot.
– Daniel Taylor
– photos by D.C. Ramirez

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