Photos: Girls & Boys on October 30

For "devil's night" this year--the night before Halloween, naturally--the heads of state from Girls & Boys brought forth a live one-two punch of acts for the Webster Hall weekly. Kicking things off was the eight-piece Brooklyn collective The Phenomenal Handclap Band, whose acid-fused dance rock is as reminiscent of Santana and the post-Monterey Pop Festival world as it is to NYC of the last ten years (!!!, LCD Soundsystem). They poured through a 40-minute set of hooks, cowbells and tambourines aplenty, with the harmonies of the vocalists altogether up front and perfectly pitched. After they were done, it was time for Simian Mobile Disco, the UK dance-pop producer duo who are riding the wave currently of their Temporary Pleasure EP, a pretty stellar yet completely single-minded record. The boys got a stuttered start after [redacted] tripped the power but they bounced back for an hour-long set of complete and utter sonic obliteration. It was, honestly, one of the best live shows of the year that we've seen (we said at the time that it was better than Fever Ray, but we might be pulling the reins back on that one) and for everyone who came out and sweated off a few pounds with us on Friday night, we're pretty sure they feel the same way.

(mp3)    Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe

Godspeed!