Men Women and Children / The Oohlas
Words: Crystal Farina
Photos: Crystal Farina

Appeared:
May 1, 2007
The Orpheum, Ybor City

Enter The Oohlas.  A 20-something, attractive woman shakes up her strawberry-blonde hair and lashes away at a single chord on the guitar as she smiles at onlookers. 

Is that sex appeal, or is that an overzealous front woman (Olivia Stone) desperate for audience approval?  Everyone ate up her routine, but I found it pretentious and irritating.  Call me a stiffy. 

As Stone sung a track called, "TV Dinner," with typical girl-gets-heart-broken lyrics such as, "Why don't you love me?" I was thinking how ironic her pouty disposition of, "Please lo-o-o-ooooove me," was.  Now don't get me wrong, the band was likened to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Pixies, and thus, I am just trying to express that Stone is talented enough to forfeit the ostentation.
 
One of most stimulating shows I have seen in a long time started next.  Men Women and Children are six men who threw themselves back to the transition between disco and 80’s new wave (yes, one of the guitarists dropped to the floor and played like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future). The MW&C stage setup came complete with a neon-green flashing microphone stand, bandana-wrapped guitar headstocks, a shirtless drummer (whose nickname is, oddly enough, Scully), a Garth look-alike for a synth-player/ laptop-operator, congo drums, maracas, and of course, disco balls. The only missing elements I lamented over were multi-colored, light-up floor tiles.

MW&C are carrying on the Brit indie-rock and dance era with the addition of pre-recorded violins and electronic "bwow-like sounds."   TJ Penzone and Chris Wrigley know how to climb the vocal ladder with crisp perfection, and yes, I felt mildly guilty about dancing as they sang, "The Name of the Train is Hurricane." Meanwhile, Penzone gave out a flashlight construction hat and started a train in the crowd.  You may arch one eyebrow at this, but MW&C are professionals and they know exactly how to keep their audience combusting with energy as they melodically sing, " We don't care if we get dirty, we ain't here for cleanliness.”