When the members of Elastica sauntered onto the Fillmore stage for their first American show in four years on Wednesday night (Sep. 21), they faced a rightfully skeptical audience.

Five years after the release of their classic self-titled debut, the Britpop band returned this summer with a hugely disappointing follow-up, The Menace. The disc confirmed the opinion held by many that the group should have by all rights disappeared with the scene it heralded all those eons ago; to be filed and forgotten alongside tracksuit wearing also-rans like Menswear, Echobelly and Sleeper .

Still, an equal mix of the faithful and curious turned out Wednesday, filling at least three-quarters of the house. And as far as Elastica were concerned, that was all the sustenance they needed. Any lesser band would crumble when faced with a room full of crossed arms and arched eyebrows. Elastica hardly seemed to notice.

All askew haircuts and thrift store threads, the group kicked into a quick succession of hits from the first album, as they pogo-ed and pouted through "Line Up" and "Car Song," hitting bum notes, knocking over mike stands and caring nish. If anyone came to see a band on its knees, begging for forgiveness, they were surely in for a kick in the cajones.

Elastica didn't ask to be loved; they demanded it. With a newly-expanded lineup that includes Mew, a keyboardist who spent the majority of her time on stage as far away from the keyboards as possible, acting out the part of maniacal cheerleader, and witnessed the return of ash-flicking Chrissie Hynde clone Annie Holland on bass, it wasn't a difficult proposition.

Add to that Amazonian frontwoman Justine Frischmann, who wore a cropped Joan Jett T-shirt and jeans slung so low you could practically see her pubic hair popping out the front, and the audience was all but helpless.

The set was short and sweet, blazing through most of the spiky, minimalist new wave of the first album ("Vaseline," "Connection," "Stutter") and plugging only the best tracks from The Menace ("Generator," "Love Like Ours"); except, of course, for the downright stupid cover of Trio's 1982 novelty hit "Da Da Da." But it was only a minor reproach.

The band was completely shambolic and utterly wonderful. It was entirely conceivable that the last time Elastica rehearsed together was in 1996, and it hardly mattered. Energy and attitude win through every time.

AIDIN VAZIRI
(September 22, 2000)