Pop Reviews : Rockus Interruptus

School of Fish needs to stay in class. Lesson 1: Drum machines are anathema to rock ‘n’ roll. Starting with its first song at Bogart’s on Tuesday, the up-and-coming L.A. quartet showed just how important that lesson is.

The pleasant rocker “Wrong” was building to a peak. But with drummer M.P. enslaved to a metronomic, mechanical beat that supplemented his own playing, there was no room for the band to move. The song simply ended, a case of rockus interruptus.

That pattern was repeated over and over throughout the 70-minute set. It was no coincidence that the show’s highlights were the three songs that didn’t employ the robotic percussion, as the band played with dynamics approaching those of the Smithereens. Even then, the songwriting and stage presence fell a little short of the similarly rooted Posies.