Halloween hangovers were still definitely in play Monday night at Bottom of the Hill. Triclops! took the stage in support of Big Business, filling the first half of an unorthodox two-band bill. The audience may not have been as energetic as would have been ideal, but frontman Johnny “No Moniker” Mink had his own plans, diving on and off the stage to engage in all sorts of delectably bizarre rock-singer behavior. The bantamweight belter was often missing from view — subsumed in the crowd as he writhed on the floor, or hidden by their heads as he sang in a state of half-finished somersault, two stick-like legs waving above the heads of the crowd, Converse bobbing like the visual organs of some eye-stalked beast.
Those in attendance were feted with the band’s infectious meat-and-potatoes rock n’ hardcore, spiced up with stop-start shred parts and a generous dose of psychedelia. Bassist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist Christian Eric Beaulieu traded off between the deceptively simple and simply complicated, anchored as they were by the muscular, inventive drumming of Phil Becker, who used the full, dulcet tones of his orange-acrylic Fibes kit with agile solidity.
[audio:https://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/01-March-Of-The-Half-Babies.mp3] Triclops! – “March Of The Half-Babies”In addition to conventional hardcore barking, Mink delved into a number of vocal effects with great success, transmogrifying his singing into a series of haunting, processed chirps and whispers that somehow gelled naturally with the band’s hard-charging riffs. Shifting effortlessly between noise soundscapes, fleet-fingered fretboard explorations, and accessible rock, Triclops! once again proved their demented mettle.
