This Set's modern funk has potential
Virtually every segment of the Boston rock scene would agree that Pastiche was the best local band to never make it.
Winners of the 1980 WBCN Rock 'n' Roll Rumble, Pastiche seemed to have it all: instrumental aplomb, provocative songs such as "Talk Show" and "Terminal Barbershop," and a fascinating, chameleon-like lead vocalist in Ken Scales.
However, Pastiche's eclectic sound and fragmented persona - the group looked like a random collection of talented musicians without a solid group identity - didn't make for an easily marketable product. The group was ignored by major record labels and, after a few personnel and style changes, disbanded.
But two members, Scales and bassist Brad Hallen, have recently joined forces with guitarist Steve Maguire, synthesist Mark Pothier (both formerly with the Graphics) and drummer Tom Comparato to create a high-tech dance band called Adventure Set. Playing only their fourth gig, the group impressed an oddly serious but rhythm-crazy audience at the Rathskeller Saturday with songs presenting a jaded view of our consumer-hungry society.
In his '40s-chic attire - a narrow-brimmed straw hat, baggy sportcoat and pants - Scales was the band's focal point. But, in contrast with his stage- roving days with Pastiche, Scales' movements were restricted to jittery hand gestures, finger-pops and, when Pothier or Maguire took a solo, a few dance steps.
The other members, in their forward-swished, British synthi-pop band haircuts, projected a distinct group image. Pothier even took some visual
pressure away from Scales by merrily dancing around his battery of synthesizers and lip-synching a few verses.
Beginning with the intense "Crashing Wall," the band immediately established a heavy dance groove, maintaining it throughout the 12-song set. Instrumentally, the primary movers were Pothier - with his melodic drones and skillfully programmed synthesizer rhythms - and Hallen, particularly when he plucked his bass strings to create twanging interjections of pure funk. Maguire's guitar functioned mostly as a scratchy rhythm and accent device, but he neatly defined "Morals" with a slithering solo and slashed through an unpredictable, Jimi Hendix-like break to "Vanished."
Scales' voice sounded rich and emotive. His timbre and phrasing occasionally drifted too close to the melancholic crooning of Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry. But Scales' subtly descriptive movements and bulging eyes (they seem capable of panoramically scanning through time and space) still make him one of the more unique characters in contemporary rock. He's much more than just another local singer.
Contrary to the implications of their name, Adventure Set's performance wasn't a ground-breaking escapade. But what they do - modern funk for the feet and mind - they do very well.
If the band can broaden their compositional horizons, perhaps by lengthening a few numbers and varying the tempos more drastically, they have the potential to reach some of the goals that eluded their antecedents.
