All words by Josh Stewart

All photos by Shauna Alexander

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Last Thursday a packed house at Velvet Lounge enjoyed a wall of synthy riffs and sugary bubble-gum hooks. Davey Pierce and Nicholas Dobbratz are Yip Deciever.  A modern synth-pop band, with 80’s sensibilities, Yip Deceiver has been honed through years as both Pierce and Dobbratz toured as part of indie-pop super band, Of Montreal.

Yip Deceiver played a killer show as Pierce and Dobbratz flung themselves across the stage, and often into the crowd.  Their between song banter was so bromantic that you get the impression that if the venue was empty, the band would still be having just as much fun. Judd Apatow would be proud.

Every track these guys threw down was a certified banger.  “Sadie Hawkins Day” and “Obnoxia”, off their self-titled EP, were both instant crowd favorites.  Layers of synth and loud moving bass lines moved even the most cynical hipster to dance.  You just couldn’t help it. Yip Deceiver is the kind of band that though you have never heard them before, you find yourself singing along anyway.

The show ended as big (and as quickly) as it began with the punchy Yip Deciever original “Get Strict”.  The track’s infectious chorus “I need a lover who can get me through the haze, through the haze, come on, come you, got to get strict…” will loop through your mind indefinitely.

Thanks to a demanding audience who kept urging for more, the band closed with an ambitious cover of “Gimme Little Sign” by Brenton Wood.  Pierce spent the entirety of the last song in the crowd getting REAL CLOSE with various audience members (including myself.)  Though it wasn’t until the last chorus of “Gimme Little Sign” that Dobbratz and Pierce both moved into the crowd and fell to their knees as they belted the last soulful chorus. Coordinated and cheeky, the band left no indulgence at the door.

These dudes are fun, catchy and their four song EP is worth every penny.  Check em out in your city soon or at the next Of Montreal show.