BY: GUILLERMO THE IV

Originally garnering attention as "those cello chicks in corsets" who opened for Marilyn Manson in 1996, Rasputina graced the stage at Club Congress late Sunday night, their stubby fingernails mercilessly wringing a frenetic beauty from the fretless necks of their instruments. It was really more talent than a pair of ears deserves.

Melora Creager (cello) of the be-horned hair clips, Zoe Keating (cello) crowned with snaking red medusa dreads, & Johnathon TeBeest (drums) in wifebeater & waxed moustache, surely looked like they raided their great grandparents' attics for a melange of dilapidated victorian meets american frontierspeople who've been captured by indians for a spell, all atop champagne heeled lace up boots and striped stockings. The sepiatone appearance of these musicians only serves to lull their audience into accepting the presence of the cellos. Then they step on the effects pedals and the real ride begins: the bows gallop across steel strings as gaunt pale hands with more life than you'd suspect saw and draw sounds the empty wooden bellies never knew they possessed, all to the beat of their own wicked drums.

Touring for their live release, "A Radical Recital", Rasputina's playful lyrics are tinged with the awkward pathos of growing up, heartbreak, aging, and madness: the false guidance culture invests in the media in "Watch T.V." ("It just get better/It gives me power/I can watch for hours/I can watch forever/It gives me pleasure/It makes me better"), or the hopeless expression of being unable to undo disability in "Oh Injury", or the raucous fun of being at "The State Fair". One could say there's a schoolyard chanty sensibility swinging outwardly to an affectation for classic rock (they do a kick-arse cover of Led Zepplin's "Rock & Roll"), but it would be selling them short. No one really does what they do.

While some might call a great show with brilliant songs enough, there are also moments where the audience is polled ("Howard Hughes: genius or madman?"), or selections interspersed by Melora's trademarked witty bits of lateral thinking ("Animal rights?!? Animals aren't always right."). Even the merch table offered many supercool handmade-by-the-band items, like custom CD sleeves, a limited to 17 copies edition Rasputina Library Book, a "tincture" (perfume), along with the usual T-shirts & posters.

And sure we cheered until we got an encore medley of 3 songs from an upcoming album, but Rasputina certainly left everyone wanting more. Incomparable.

__________________ i am comforted by mozart's ridiculous laugh