May 20–27, 1999

critic pick|rock/pop

St. Etienne

It's only appropriate that St. Etienne's new EP is called Places to Visit (Sub Pop). The last few months have found the British synthesizer pop band uncharacteristically mobile. While the first seven years of St. Etienne's existence yielded only two American appearances, the buzz over last year's lush, glorious Good Humor triggered a six-date mini-tour. The response to that outing prompted another series of U.S. dates, including St. Etienne's first Philadelphia show.

"It wasn't until we signed to Sub Pop that anyone offered to help us pay for [touring]. We've got quite a lot of people in the live band," notes singer Sarah Cracknell. "Our labels before always said, 'There's no call for it. No one will come see you.' But," she says with a well-earned chuckle, "They were lying!"

The band, Cracknell says, were "quite blown away" by the response at last year's dates.

Touring with the crack ensemble that played last December's delightful New York show, Cracknell promises a similar mix of new songs and old. The band's newfound fondness for live instrumentation has brought a new depth to their sound, which plucks from '60s pop and disco as easily as '90s dance-floor anthems. But it also leaves them more vulnerable to more unpredictable variables.

"Sometimes everything can be set up perfectly and sound check can be great and then the gig is just flat. And sometimes we do our most vibrant gigs where we're all dreading it, and feeling really shit-shit and tired." So maybe the audience should try to put Cracknell in a foul mood at the show. It may be worth it.

-Sam Adams

St. Etienne plays with King Britt and Kid Loco, Thu., May 20, 8 p.m., at the TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011.