POP MUSIC REVIEW : Elastica Proves the Hype Isn’t a Stretch : English Band Makes Its L.A. Debut With an Electrifying Set

The last thing Elastica needed as the quartet walked on stage for its L.A. debut on Tuesday at the Whisky was for KROQ-FM emcee Rodney Bingenheimer to proclaim from the stage that the capacity crowd was about to see “history in the making.”

This English band was so widely acclaimed months before its first album hit the streets this week that even the mildest cynics surely suspected that a heavy dose of hype was heading their way.

It’s no wonder band leader Justine Frischmann looked a tad embarrassed as she stepped to the microphone.

A keen observer of the fickle British rock world, the singer-guitarist knows the danger of massively high expectations. That’s why she persuaded the group to discourage the mushrooming media attention by taking a six-month break from interviews and live shows last year while working on the debut album.

By the time Elastica had finished its short, electrifying Whisky set, however, Bingenheimer’s words had the ring of prophecy. The co-ed band lived up to all the promise of its glorious string of British singles.

Reviving the seductive, punk-influenced pop-rock approach identified with rock’s early ‘80s new wave movement, Frischmann and her cohorts combined the authority of the Pretenders, the tuneful compactness of the Buzzcocks and the exuberance of the Jam.

If Liam Gallagher of Oasis proved in recent visits here to be the most stiff and aloof British rock star in memory, Frischmann came across Tuesday as one of the most natural and engaging.

Dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans, she threw herself into the music so fully that she frequently bounced up and down--pogo-style--between verses as if to relieve some of the excess energy.

Fueled by the feverish instrumental attack of Frischmann, guitarist Donna Matthews, bassist Annie Holland and drummer Justin Welch, Elastica’s songs deal chiefly with relationships and sex. The focus ranges from sarcastic (“Stutter” and “Line Up”) to playfully lustful to gently introspective.

Frischmann doesn’t exhibit the full vocal texture and range of the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, but her phrasing has a warmly convincing edge that enables her to add just the right subtlety and character to the group’s wide range of themes.

Except for introducing some of the songs and throwing a bottle of water to those pressed against the front of the stage in the sauna-like club, Frischmann was fairly businesslike on stage.

Still, she demonstrated, with lyrics such as “Let’s go siesta / In your Ford Fiesta” from “Car Song,” that she is someone who refuses to take herself too seriously. At the same time, she showed with the tender, revealing “Never Here” that she can touch us on a more profound level.

Don’t worry about the hype. Elastica is for real.