Unusual suspects

Tween trio Care Bears On Fire prove hipper than expected

By Kristyn Pomranz
Published: January 8th, 2008 | 9:38pm

January 5, 2008, in Brooklyn — Usually when a concertgoer budges in front of your perfect stage view, it’s a rock show felony. However, it's difficult to begrudge an obstructer who says, “Sorry, just gettin' my kid,” before apprehending a 6-year-old in braids and leading her out the door, and it is equally impossible to resent the shoulder-sitting toddler mesmerized by the glint of the bass guitar.

And so goes the bizarre dichotomy of attending a kid-core concert: Though the audience boasts the usual suspects of 20- and 30-year-olds pounding PBR, it also hosts the band’s classmates, kid siblings, and panicky parents uncomfortable with basement dinginess.

At the center of the circus are seventh-grade punk savants Care Bears On Fire, rocking a 4 p.m. matinee at Union Hall in Brooklyn, to be broadcast on Japanese television. The mind-bendingly talented kids — guitarist Sophie 12; bassist Lucio, 13; and drummer Izzy, 12 — are young veterans of the New York underground, having packed venues as big as the main stage at the Knitting Factory. Their single “Everybody Else” has even soundtracked a Converse shoe commercial.

As a live act, Care Bears On Fire are hipper than imaginable, possessing the intangible punk rock attitude lacked by most modern acts. Perhaps it is because their act is not propelled by ego or affectation, just an unadulterated commitment to playing stellar music — sharp, infectious punk riffs that unapologetically pulse through their audience.

Sophie was as solemn as a shoegazer, deadpanning her way through brilliant lyrics (from “I Met You On MySpace”: “You said you were 12/And you lived in my nabe/But you’re really 300/And you live in a cave”), only breaking countenance with 'tween-song banter like, “Feel free to dance and stuff.” Lucio remained equally blasé, bangs in his face, attuned only to his music and band mates, methodically rocking his bass like an extension of his body. But it is drummer Izzy who stole the show, wiling out like Animal on the drums, face contorted and arms flailing, like a miniature Janet Weiss.

This isn’t to say they weren't having fun — it is merely controlled by concentration. When they reached their cathartic encore of “Baby Animals,” Sophie sweetly sang, “I like piglets/I like kittens/I like tadpoles,” until the pace quickened, the lyrics snarled, and she began shredding and screaming with a ferocity that would make Slayer jealous of her authentic tween tantrum.

At one point, I overheard a presumed relative saying, “I looked around and all of these people I don’t know were singing along. How do they know the lyrics? It’s scary!” It’s not scary, lady… it’s the verge of fame.