Matt & Kim
Bottom of the Hill - Mar 1, 2007
review by lexicon
One skinny arm up, he declares gleefully, "She's Kim! And I'm Matt!
And we're Matt & Kim!" And then the raucous show-cum-house-party
begins, Kim banging away on the drums, Matt, appearing overgrown for
his modest keyboard, pounding the keys and sing-shouting ever so
slightly off-key into the mic.
Matt & Kim are less like a band, and more like your two smiliest,
skinniest, most fun-loving Brooklynite friends who've come to visit.
Their smiles are big enough to melt the hearts of even the most stoic
hipsters. But make no mistake: there are no ballads here. This is no
saccharine indie pop love fest. This is smiley-rock full of youthful
exuberance. (In fact, if you really want to feel what a Matt & Kim
show is like, start this review again from the beginning, and
re-punctuate the whole thing using only exclamation points!)
So there's Kim on the kit raising her drumsticks high over her head
and banging them down with all the force her sinewy arms can muster.
She's a slight thing after all, a former 5-K running champ, and has
been known to duct tape her shirt to her chest in case she gets too
wild as she plays (although, as Matt has reminded her, she doesn't
have much to hide). Though mic shy and therefore silent, Kim doesn't have
to say anything for you to know she's enjoying herself: her ear-to-ear
smile never leaves her face.
Matt, meanwhile, is telling us how last time he was in town, they had
gone to an all-you-can-eat Ethiopian restaurant before the show.
Portion control wasn't his strong suit and he paid the price. For those
in the audience who'd been at that previous show, he's going
full-circle: rewind a few months, and there he is, on a different
stage, warning us that he might be a bit sluggish due to the 5
goats-worth of stew in his stomach.
As an opening act, Matt & Kim steal the show; as headliners, they
inspire a mosh pit of glee that would give any metal band a run for
its money. Even if you've never heard Kim's simple driving beats and
Matt's goofy synthy keyboards and silly, semi-incomprehensible lyrics
about playing sports and hanging out, they are simply having too much
fun for you not to. Schoolyard style, because we're all kids again
with these guys on stage, I dare you to prove me wrong.
posted Mar 24, 2007
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