Review :: K. Flay, Sirah & Icona Pop at Boston's Paradise Rock Club

Over the past year and a half everyone who has listened to the radio, walked through a mall, or hit up a club knows Icona Pop's energetic "I Love It." On the strength of their top 10 banger, the Swedish female duo is touring with their debut international LP on the horizon, set to drop on Sept. 23. Supporting Icona Pop are rappers K. Flay and Siarah, who put on some incredibly embarrassing and poorly executed performances when they opened up for the sugary pop duo at Boston's Paradise Rock Club on Sept. 19.

First up was Sirah, who is best known for working with dubstep pioneer Skrillex, lending her vocals to the hit "Bangarang." Sirah, tried to the carry the swag of Lauryn Hill, but her vocals were buried under her backup band, thanks to her loud, but very skilled, drummer. She jumped around, encouraging the audience to do the same, but her set came across as amateur and desperate.

But things didn't get any better when fellow rapper K. Flay took stage. While Sirah was more traditional, K. Flay and her band lamely incorporated rock/heavy metal into her music. But it was all performance - the nuts and bolts of actual music were missing, and it felt like we were watching a girl put on a show in her bedroom: at one point Sirah and her band joined K. Flay and the group of five or six jumped around on stage while the chorus of Drake's "Started From the Bottom" played on a loop. And then there was the head-banging, which was incredibly cringe-worthy.

After that mess, Icona Pop appeared and launched into their (less appreciated) single "We Got the World." It was fun, but the duo (Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo) seemed a bit reserved. After a few more jams, which were enhanced by a strobe light show that burst out of a faux spaceship, it became clear that the women weren't really doing much besides singing.

The drums and other instruments were mostly prerecorded and the duo basically hit play and sang over recorded tracks. Sure, they twist some knobs, tapped on some sample machines and Jawo even played a little guitar (though it was questionable if that was even happening), but it all came off as artificial.

While they had some banter with the audience, it felt as though they were holding back and simply going through the motions. Unsurprisingly, they saved "I Love It" for their last track and it tweaked nicely to change it up from the album/radio version.

Icona Pop is a fun, lighthearted pop band (marketed to indie kids) but their show at the Paradise brought to light how synthetic they actual are; breathing some life into their music and show would do them a huge favor. Though they may love performing music, they came across as though they don't care.