Stereolab @ The Showbox

September 25 • 8 pm

Stereolab have become perhaps the hippest legacy band touring these days. Now 32 years into a distinguished career (minus a decade-long hiatus), the eclectic Anglo-Franco rock group haven’t released any new material since 2010, but no matter. Their catalog is so loaded with gems they could perform several shows a year without repeating set lists. 

Led by guitarist Tim Gane and vocalist/keyboardist/lyricist Lætitia Sadier, Stereolab have earned worldwide respect in the underground for their impeccable syntheses of the motorik and metronomic rhythms of Neu! and Can, the buoyant melodiousness of Tropicália and yé-yé, the mantric, driving rock of the Velvet Underground and the Modern Lovers, and the electronic abstractions of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Sadier augments these piquant sounds with verses that wittily tackle sexual and governmental politics, in both French and English. 

While their musical tastes are fairly obscure, Stereolab have fashioned arcane reference points into accessible songs that bubble and groove with energy and verve. As fascinating as their recordings are, Stereolab’s live shows bring their varied, rarefied elements into more vivid, exhilarating relief.