beans with holy fuck, les savy fav

Since last summer, which was the first time that the pool was opened officially to host a weeklong dance festival, people no longer have to tiptoe through the rusty gates . This summer, thanks to JellyNYC, a Williamsburg-based collaborative, there will be free ‘Pool Parties’ every Sunday afternoon with bands, complimentary icecream, dodgeball, and slip n’ slide. The first of ten Pool Parties had Proton Proton, Dragons of Zynth, Beans with Holy Fuck and Les Savy Fav on the bill. I missed Proton Proton and Dragons of Zynth due to the World Cup final and arrived during a DJ set by ‘Fingers on the Pulse’, who played Love is All and the summer anthem Hot Chip’s Over and Over, which boomed through the excellent sound system. Hundreds of people came out. As I ate an orange cream sorbet, Holy Fuck, a danceable four piece improvised live electronic music without the help of laptops and samplers. They didn’t get my full attention until Beans, the New York born experimental rapper, joined them with abundant lyrics and freaked out dancing. The sun was beginning to set when local Brooklyn indie legends, Les Savy Fav came onstage. Wild front-man Tim Harrington appeared in a kimono, floppy hat and oversized sunglasses. He shivered and feigned sunstroke saying he felt ” so coooold…so co-co-cold”. When he removed the robe his generous torso was painted in a red kool-aid sunburn that matched his cherry-red retro grandpa swim trunks. This was just the beginning of Harrington’s antics. They broke into “Tragic Monsters” and within minutes he tightrope walked the guard rail by the stage, proceeded to crowd surf on a plastic banner, joined a dodge ball game mid-song, rolled in a puddle, made out with the front row, hula hooped, deep-throated a plastic blow-up sword and even hit the slip n slide. Harrington’s theatrics combined with their tight, catchy dance/punk rock energy is what makes this band so popular. The crowd just danced, kept the beach ball afloat and drank beer. It was good clean summer fun.