The superfluously asterisked Quix*o*tic are a band from Washington, D.C., composed of Christina Billotte, formerly of Autoclave and Slant 6, her sister Mira, and some guy named Mick Barr. Both Mira and Mick have also been in bands, but ones of which I've unfortunately never heard. Despite their pedigree, this is not your typical indie group. For one thing, the sisters seem to have a thing for nineteenth century-style clothes. I guess it's high time for the return to fashion of that era, now that I think about it... Then there's the instrument-swapping fun and widely divergent stylistic indulgences. I've seen them live twice so far, and my impression was of having seen five or so different bands taking turns on stage. Typically Christina plays guitar and sings in that distinctive style we heard from Slant 6, Mira handles the drums, and Mick ably holds down the bass end of affairs. However, on a number of tracks, Mira takes over vocal duties, providing an interesting vocal contrast with classic rock overtones that remind me a bit of Grace Slick. She also plays a little guitar, and on one track they do a three-way instrument swap. Perhaps through the magic of mixing, the album comes across as being much more cohesive than did the live experience; however, it still presents a few distinct styles. Primarily, the Quix*o*tic sound is a bit spooky, with clean, spidery guitar with a touch of reverb, simple drumming, and clean bass. But they seem to have a thing for soul, covering "Sitting in the Park" by Billy Stewart and "Tell It Like It Is" by Aaron Neville. And, as if to be as incongruous as possible, they cap off the album with a fuzz-tone cover of Black Sabbath's "Lord of this World" (note to Mira: practice your rock soloing). Thankfully, their classic rock grooving is more limited on record than it was live; it's not really their strong suit. Both live and on record, I think the highlight has to be "The Breeze," a spooky skeleton of a song with evocative vocals by Mira, the only accompaniment being her snare and Christina's guitar. Quix*o*tic's sound isn't one you hear every day, so I'm looking forward to hearing where they take it from here. (CP)
(Kill Rock Stars -- 120 NE State Ave. PMB 418, Olympia, WA. 98501; http://www.killrockstars.com/; Quix*o*tic -- http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/factsheets/quix*o*tic/)