Kick Out the Jams: Sparta at the Huntridge Theater, May 22

Sparta at the Huntridge Theater, May 22

It says something about the state of the world that even emo-core artists are donning shirts that say "VOTE"--wait, like, isn't that Michael Stipe's job? Not anymore; it seems that while the Bush camp tries to motivate core Republicans this election season, people at the edges, like the mop-haired kind who buy Sparta albums, are starting to get pissed. Sure, the emo-core genre--that curious stepchild of punk that turned catharsis into a neck-flexing, macho art--usually favors the personal over the political, but there was Sparta frontman Jim Ward Saturday night, devoting a chunk of "Glasshouse Tarot" to some anti-war agitating. "We want 'em home," he intoned, wrapped in a "VOTE" T-shirt. "Because a million plus a million plus a million equals change." The otherwise sedate crowd of punkster mopheads responded with an earnest cheer, momentarily out-enthusing whoever was operating the smoke machine, which belched absurdly large clouds of the stuff at absurdly arbitrary intervals throughout the night.

Other than the soapboxing, Sparta put on a decent show that matched the what-the-hell vibe of its current tour; with its new album Porcelain not due out until July, the band decided to hit the road anyway with a quiver of classics and new tunes, some of which are watery, post-punk ballads ranging uncomfortably close to '80s pop. But Sparta trotted out plenty of standards from its debut album Wiretap Scars, too, opening with the storm of "Cut Your Ribbon" and following up with "Mye," the charging pop of "Red Alibi" and "Assemble the Empire," which seesawed into a bright chorus. Closer "Air," built on catchy dual guitar breakdowns, not only had the kids singing, but even clapping along with Ward, who spent much of his between-song banter exhorting the crowd to vote. Following the leader isn't always a bad thing.--AK