A tour through time

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Paul F. P. Pogue

Groovatron
The Mousetrap
Thursday, Jan. 26

One of the most energetic creative developments of the last decade or so can best be described as the post-genre movement. Experimental bands began to merge form and genre with a gusto and unpredictability that defied description.
One such blending of ska, funk, rock and soul hit the mainstream with the likes of No Doubt and, especially, Sublime, but it doesn’t end with them. Groovatron, in their late-night performance at the Mousetrap after they opened for moe. at the Murat, certainly carry the torch proudly.

Most of their performance didn’t even involve lyrics — just laid-back, easygoing jams stretching out for 10, 15 minutes at a time. When they weren’t debating the ethics of Count Chocula, that is.

They’d paint psychedelic vistas like Syd-era Pink Floyd, then ease into funky bass-driven jams before launching into heavy slabs of hard rock, and finally shifting right back into the 1960s with swampy guitar sounds and Doors-style backgrounds that make you look around for the lava lamps and tie-dyed shirts — a rambunctious tour through 40 years of musical evolution.