There’s just something about a drink with an umbrella. On days like today when I’m stuck in a stagnant office and want nothing more than to be wearing only swim trunks and SPF 125, an umbrella drink has strong appeal. As does the thought of a coconut bikini top. As does a band like Seattle’s Lushy.
Let me explain …
You see, not only does Lushy have a name I can relate to — having once woken up after a night of college binge drinking with the same thing written in Sharpie on my forehead — but the band, as close as musically possible, at least — personifies, ’60s lounge coolness. As a musical entity, Lushy is like a Rat Pack-ready, cocktail toting, cha-cha trotting swinger — ready for whatever comes its way. Be it breezy bossa nova jams or well dressed pop, Lushy is Sean Connery-era Bond, making whatever room they’re in exponentially sexier and swankier.
It rubs off — and, especially thanks to the sexy voice of Annabella Kirby, can’t help but make even the least swanky of us out there (this writer) feel strangely exotic and alluring — which compared to my usual feelings of ineptitude and mediocrity, is an enjoyable diversion.
Saturday, Lushy will bring the swank to The New Frontier. Celebrating ten years as a band, and ever-evolving within a genre they’ve basically created as their own, Lushy, while definitely a bit campy, is also making retro original, one space age lounge jam at a time — a feat that shouldn’t be underestimated.
Or, to cut to the chase, Lushy’s bassist, Matt Nims, calls what the band does “progressive cocktail” — which just might be better than anything I was going to come up with anyway.
“I don’t think there are very many people doing what we do,” says Nims of Lushy’s “futuristic retro” approach, which he says incorporates elements of “Tiki-exotica,” “Euro cabaret café,” and “straight pop rock.”
“We take a Latin lounge groove and build a party song on top of that.”
[The New Frontier, Lushy with Greenfield, Saturday, June 6, 9 p.m., $5, 301 E. 25th Street, Tacoma, 253.572.4020]
