Frothy fun from Kid Meets Cougar

"Time to calibrate the joystick," the robo voice instructs, sounding like a more helpful HAL 9000. "Continue when ready."

The voice emanates from one of the laptops that sit among the band gear in the home rehearsal room/studio of Vegas' shape-shifting indie pop duo Kid Meets Cougar.

It guides singer/programmer/multi-instrumentalist Brett Bolton through the setup process for the band's new live visual presentation, which they've been working on for a year and a half now.

Soon, we see why.

"Your joystick is good to go," the voice continues. "Opening your live set now."

Shortly thereafter, the room goes dark, momentarily, before flooding with light as a projector casts images on the opposite wall, synced with the movements of Bolton and his partner Courtney Carroll, who also sings and plays a variety of instruments.

A talking robot becomes illuminated on the front of one of their amps.

"I just hit the brown note. Suck on that, Justice," it says as the couple's cat, Moonshine, paws at the moving shapes cast about the room.

It's an elaborate presentation, and we get but a taste of it on a recent Wednesday evening, as Kid Meets Cougar prepare for their first live gig since October 2010, this Friday at the Winchester Cultural Center, where KMC will celebrate the release of their new seven-track EP, "Sierra Papa Tango."

Though it's not a full-length release, it feels like there's a couple of albums' worth of sounds on "Sierra," whose changeling songs are posited on both immediacy and lots of musical head fakes, as their tunes are catchy, yet mostly nonlinear.

Space-age disco, turbulent robot rock, even a funk guitar tutorial all figure into the mix, as airy melodies, zigzagging synth lines and hiccuping beats all continually morph into new forms.

"I love making these weird things that you figure out on the fourth or fifth listen," Bolton explains.

And that's where Carroll comes in, shaping the material into something you can hum along with.

"I don't like math rock or pop, but I love melody," she says, laughing.

Both Carroll and Bolton are drummers first and foremost who began playing together just for kicks. Since then, they've become one of Vegas' most fun and distinctive live acts, almost incidentally.

"Five years ago, would you ever think that you'd be singing and playing keyboards in a band?" Bolton asks his partner.

"No way," Carroll chuckles. "Especially not in front of people."

"You've done really well," he adds.

Seconded.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com
or 702-383-0476.