Petty Booka | Concert Review: Bottom Lounge, Chicago |Benten | Japan

Sunday I finally got to see the duo of Petty and Booka play live at Chicago's Bottom Lounge, backed up by a Nashville-capable acoustic guitarist. To quote their press kit, "They specialize in putting a unique Polynesian or Country-Western twist on faves from the world of country, bluegrass, exotica, punk, 1980s pop, and whatever else might strike their fancy." They're the kind of cookies the U.S. machine could never have cut out, yet they're tasty enough to be fit for mass consumption.

Booked between the Breeders-style rock of Noodles and the thrash/noise of Bleach on this Japanese Girls Samurai U.S. Tour stop, the acoustic pair could have seemed out of place or outgunned, but didn't. Their years on the road have given them vocal chops, charm and that rare, almost forbidden element in the indie music world--showmanship. It was reflected in their banter, clever cowgirl capitalization on the Japanese-girl cuteness factor and their well-crafted set list.

After establishing their retro Hawaiian/C&W sound with "Ukelele Lady" and "I Fall to Pieces," Petty Booka starting digging deep into the pop songbag and pulling out tunes of various eras to which to apply their harmonies: Fairground Attraction's near-forgotten "Perfect", a funky "Rainy Night in Georgia" and the biggest crowd-pleaser of the night, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." My personal favorite was an Okinawan reggae version of "The Tide is High," in which Petty and Booka played their ukes like Okinawan sanshin lutes and sang in the syncopated style of the women on a Shoukichi Kina album.

Petty Booka are true crowd pleasers and it's hard to imagine a place they wouldn't be appreciated. They've got something that transcends genres, age groups and the concept of "mainstream music." Rock clubs, Nashville, Branson MO, Hawaii, folk festivals, old folks homes, day care centers, Las Vegas or a night at the Apollo--they'd fit just about anywhere. Silly? Gimmicky? Yes, and in way that the increasingly unpopular U.S. pop music industry might do well to emulate.