US novelty music act The Xylopholks and Madagascar rock act Ziskakan played the Blue Frog on Thursday, January 28. We were there.

The Xylopholks
The Xylopholks play ragtime music (dance music from the 1920s, think the soundtrack to a Tom & Jerry episode) dressed in furry animal costumes. Their uber-twee act is just that, uber-twee; cutesy ragtime songs executed largely efficiently with a minimal arrangement that features a xylophone (hence the name), upright bass and piano. While the mumbled lyrics were a turn-off, it was hard not to be taken by the sugary cuteness of the trio from New York. Their set was short.

Indiecision: B-

Ziskakan
Ziskakan play the sort of generic, life-affirming world rock that isn’t as complex as say Buena Vista Social Club but isn’t as facile as Los Del Rio. If Motherjane and the Gipsy Kings had a lovechild, this is what he would sound like. Their live act was, and therefore, largely inclusive dance-bob-ish. They started slow however, with the multi-instrumental setup taking its own time to settle down. Once it did, the remainder of the evening was largely predictable though not as charming as French group Les Boukakes who played the Blue Frog last November. The highlight of the set was a blazing bass solo by Mishko M’Ba who sat down in front of his stage monitor and literally slapped some excitement into what was otherwise a pretty ordinary set.

Indiecision: C

We took a bunch of pictures at the gig. Here are a few.