Andrew Veeder on November 22nd, 2013

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It’s always a relief when a new band releases an excellent debut album and follows it up with a sophomore effort that both expands and surpasses their previous sound. Minneapolis’s electro-pop outfit Poliça, the project of singer Channy Leaneagh and non-touring producer Ryan Olson, achieved that with this fall’s album “Shulamith,” fleshing out their synthy fabric with dramatic percussion, vocal effects and goth and R&B textures. On Wednesday night at the Fonda Theatre, the melancholy and heartbreak of that second album was given shape.

Flanked by two drummers, Drew Christopherson and Ben Ivascu, as well as bassist Chris Bierden, the black-clad band kicked it off with “Spilling Lines” and proceeded right into “Lay Your Cards Out” from 2012’s “Give You The Ghost,” gradually building up over a moody synth, Bierden’s dancing bassline and delicate percussion touches as Channy slinked around the stage confidently.

Next came “Very Cruel,” a highlight from “Shulamith,” its deep synth brooding and growing as Christopherson and Ivascu’s drumming expanded in harmony, each nailing different rhythms within the same beat to form a nuanced whole, perfectly hitting the starts and stops. Their seamless ying and yang also shined on “Smug,” “So Leave,” and “Warrior King,” each intently focused and wearing a pair of huge headphones.

The crowd slow-grooved to the recent single “Tiff” and bounced during the vibrant “Chain My Name.” The pulsating synth that opens “Amongster” drew a huge audience response from the packed floor, and Channy’s vocals began clearer at the beginning before the modulation overtook them as the song progressed. This show featured Channy more in control of the synth, samples and her own vocals, absorbing the triggering duties of Bierden from last year’s tour, as well as adjusting her pitch and delay on the fly.

Poliça came out for an encore and covered “You Don’t Own Me,” Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit, with Bierden and Channy spearheading the music before being rejoined by the percussion section to close the song, and their 70-minute show, with their final song, “Matty.” The animated bassline, drumming intricacies, and Channy’s soaring voice bolstered the throbbing undercurrent of synth, with a hushed but droning interlude full of subtleties preceding its booming conclusion, and they left the stage again to a huge applause. The cover of “Shulamith” draped down behind the band, a photo from behind of a side-turned Channy against a blue background with a JFK-esque blood stain covering the back of her head and neck, an image that was pixelated for the album’s release, and the entire show was bathed in blues and reds, aided by a projector on stage left.

Experimental noise band and fellow Minneapolitans Marijuana Deathsquads opened the show, also armed with drummers Christopherson and Ivascu, in addition to a third, and four more members huddled around a table center-stage covered in laptops and other equipment. Their warped vocals and unconventional sound brings to mind Lucky Dragons and Health without guitars, with a ferocious show that had all of its members vibing to the same rhythms of the song but at different speeds, as if headbanging at half and double-times. Channy, who has collaborated with the band in recent years, also joined them on stage to contribute sounds and vocals to the madness, an interesting mass of electronica that featured songs from their 2013 album “Oh My Sexy Lord.”

Photo by Debi Del Grande