"Destroy your record collection, it's for your own protection," talk-sang Black Box Recorder vocalist Sarah Nixey at the Knitting Factory on Saturday, as her bandmates crooned the poppy chorus of "The School Song," the English trio's wry, self-referential manifesto for would-be songwriters.
Flanked by guitarist and black box manipulator Luke Haines of the Auteurs and guitarist John Moore, along with a drummer, Nixey and her breathy-yet-powerful voice led the way through a 50-minute set drawn from BBR's "Passionoia" and two earlier collections. Often danceable and universally fun, their eccentric organic/electronic tunes shifted from the joyously obsessive torch number "These Are the Things" to the "The School Song," with its Pretenders-esque rhythm.
