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Juliette Lewis Still Rocking, Sexually (SXSW 2009)

12:10 p.m. · March 19, 2009 · by Evan Rytlewski

You've got to admire her tenacity. Years after her rock band Juliette and the Licks fell off the radar, Juliette Lewis is back with a new project, the very Licks-like New Romantiques, which teased some forthcoming material last night as SXSW.

The shtick is unchanged: Juliette cakes herself in glitter and flails around, flaunting her Karen O-like sexual ebullience. But where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have evolved into one of rock’s most multi-faceted bands, Juliette is more interested in textbook shock theater than evolving her songwriting. The novelty of watching the girl who played Audrey in one of the National Lampoon Vacation movies pleasure a microphone and grind on her mic stand wears old fast, though a climactic stage dive into a sea of grabby fans ended the concert on a high note.