Luluc

Band: Luluc

Where: NXNE Festival- Toronto, ON- Friday June 18, 2010- The Cameron House

Who: Unassuming folk duo, Zoe Randell and Steve Hassett. Originally from Melbourne Australia, now based in Brooklyn, New York.

What: Minimalist indie folk music that is delivered with a perfected sense of tone but otherwise delivers the familiar romantic and emotional tropes of this kind of music.

Performance: This duo's mix of vocal mastery and vacuous performance left me cold. While Zoe Randell tuned her guitar and warmed up with the first verse of each song from their set list, Steve Hassett concerned himself with perfecting the subtlest of sound nuances, the likes of which only he could hear.

That said, musical perfectionism counts for something. Their acoustics sound delectably rich and intricate and it displays their vivid imagery with the simplest of sonic analogies. Luluc's ability to impress the mixed crowd with the sheer beauty of their musical landscapes and intricate melodic design was best exemplified in Little Suitcase and The Wealthiest Queen. From the gentle timbre of Randell's voice, to the vaulting resonance of Hassett's vintage guitar, Luluc's musicality is an exact science executed with the scope of a musical sniper aimed at simple elegance.

Luluc's music left me unsatisfied despite its mastery. Luluc's withdrawn and introspective personality translates on stage into a docile, wispy performance. They manage to relegate the audience to its bare function; as a passive-receptive witness at the mercy of the artist's creation.

The similar sound structure of their musical cache lulled me into a stupor, which I would still be in now if the Jack Stafford Foundation had not come on next, to clear our audio palates. They must shake things up on stage or experiment with other audio styles in order to differentiate each song from the next.

Song to Listen to: Little Suitcase