Known only as A//, the founder of the Toulouse-based purist electro label Invasion Planete insists that the third-wave electroclash trend is just piggybacking off a scene he personally started years ago. He also claims that Stalin, Gandhi, and Hitler “are not complete enough for me. A melting of the three of them would perhaps be perfect.” One of those guys who’d rather cut off his left one than trade his crewcut and black military duds for a fauxhawk and denim, A// takes his music as seriously as his politics; he directs his business with an iron hand and lists as a pet peeve people who confuse making music with making friends: “Familiarity is a fatal error of the new generation,” he says. You’d think such conviction would translate into sharp production skills and some serious Death Star gabber–at least a hate anthem or two–but the label’s recordings are so laid-back and sloppy that A// sounds less like a revolutionary than a bee that got lost on its way back to the hive. Therein lies the charm of Invasion Planete’s performers: onstage they wear ski masks, bite people, and talk a lot of shit, but the simple pop songs they play have the sort of predictable, repetitive lyrics that only someone with a foreign accent can get away with. There are six acts on the bill, but only four people are coming to town–with this crew, you’ve always got to read the fine print. Sunday, March 30, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western; 773-276-3600.
