Acoustic duo Chicken Little (it typically adds an exclamation point) brings old-time post-punk to an in-store Radio-Active Records show Thursday. How do those two disparate styles mix? Chicken Little's overt Appalachian bluegrass backbone makes the old-timer bit really easy to make out, but one has to dig deeper into the accordion lines to pick out the post-punk part. Listen closely and it's there: the punchy harmonies, the sardonic lyricism, the speedy three-chord progressions.
Doggone it, if it isn't art-damaged rock underneath all that rootsy
folk. This twosome -- consisting of squeezebox player Emma "Chicken"
Berkey and guitarist Dave "Little" Cuomo -- first met in Brooklyn before
seeking out greener pastures in Nashville. Punk-turned-folkie Cuomo cut
his teeth performing in New York subway stations, and Berkey brings
classical training as a choral singer and pianist from her roots in
North Carolina. They take turns shouting and crooning vocals on playful
tunes. Their most tongue-in-cheek moment is "The Sky Is Not Falling,"
which takes a stab at the legendary Aesop's Fable. That's pretty punk
rock in our book. South Florida's angst-ridden folk rocker Caulfield's
Rebellion will open.
Chicken Little, With Caulfield's Rebellion. 7 p.m. Thursday, March 11,
at Radio-Active Records, 1930 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.
Tickets are free. 954-762-9488; click here.
