Review: Pet Conspiracy at the Song Club

Pet Conspiracy – Song Club – Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cranking out a medley of sounds from 80s techno, Japanese punk rock, indie, and old school electronica, Pet Conspiracy delivered a short and energized show at the Song club last Thursday… and deliver they did.

Uncommon in the music world, Pet Conspiracy actually has two frontwomen. Helen Feng is the “big sister” magnetic core of the band; keeping it grounded and focused with her sultry, seasoned wails and powerful ballads. Her music and dress style is more attuned with 80s groove, with her shimmering red spandex and shoulder-padded blazer. “ Small sister” newbie, Yunyun, meanwhile, is an almost exact replica of the Yasuko Onuki, frontwoman of Japanese punk rock band, Melt Bananas. With an attitude 10-folds her diminutive stature, Yunyun, is the hoodie-wearing, crazy-screaming punk injecting shots of electricity into the band that keeps the audience wanting more.

Playing off each other’s styles and energy as often as they play together, the resulting dynamic from this unusual match up creates a big connect between such contrasting sounds and moods that gives this band the edge they need to stand out from the rest of the field. The show jolted to a start with a punk rock song with Yunyun screaming her vocals down from her seat on top of the shoulders of lead guitarist, Huzi, and then flowed through a few electronica dance numbers and rock songs, fast and slow, with a combination of solos and duets from Yunyun and Helen.

Helen, who has been singing and performing since the age of 5, grew up between parts of Louisiana, Chicago, Calgary and L.A. When I caught up with her after the show, she recounted the amusing story of the first band she formed, at the age of 8 or 9, called Electric, with the only other two minority girls in her school, a Jew and an African American. Years later, after many performances in choirs and other musical entities, Helen landed a job as an MTV VJ for Asia, which brought her to Beijing in 2002 and its burgeoning music scene. Eventually, she met Huzi and Liman, the band’s keyboardist, to form Pet Conspiracy in 2007; later finding drummer, Edo, with Yunyun being the most recent addition. The rise of Pet Conspiracy has been quick, with the band having already finished their European tour this fall.

While she cites that her personal musical influences include Nina Simone, LCD Sound System, and Madonna (mainly on the attire aspect), the savvy and well-spoken Helen is quick to point out that Pet Conspiracy do not attribute their music to any specific musical influences. It will be interesting to watch the future evolution of their sound, and see what direction they choose and where it will lead them. Pet Conspiracy is definitely a band to keep an eye on.