Quix*O*Tic was a trio from Washington DC featuring Mick Barr on bass and sisters Mira & Christina Billotte on drums and guitars/vocals, respectively. They are generally lumped in with “indie rock”, however the group achieved a rather distinctive stripped-down sound. Most of the music consists of drums, bass and vocals - the guitar usually playing melodies that follow or harmonize with the bassline as opposed to a chordal backing. Formed in 1997, they released Night For Day (Ixor Stix, 2000) and Mortal Mirror (Kill Rock Stars, 2002), achieving on the latter an odd hybrid of Nico’s ghostly singing and Sleater-Kinney’s rabid roots-rock. The band parted ways in 2004. Christina Billotte went on to form The Casual Dots, while Mira formed White Magic, and Mick became guitarist of Orthrelm.
Contrary to their name, Quix*O*Tic’s sound is about as far from romantic as one can get. Mira Billotte’s funereal beats mix with Christina Billotte’s reverb laden anti-surf guitar, while the bass of Mick Barr marches along with militaristic precision. Dig deeper though and you find Christina’s vocals wafting in on a syrupy breeze.| | |
