Concert Review: The Nicotine Fits, Mr. Gnome and Hopeless Destroyers

The Nicotine Fits, Mr. Gnome, and Hopeless Destroyers

Better Than: Band practice in the garage with the car running.

By GRANT SNIDER

I challenge you to find a review of a two-piece, male-female rock band that doesn’t reference the White Stripes. This comparison is unavoidable, so I’ll get it over with quickly. The Cleveland duo Mr. Gnome features Nicole Barille on guitar and vocals, and Sam Meister (an awesome name) on drums. The girl can howl like Jack and likewise shred on the guitar. The guy can probably drum circles around Meg. Are they married to each other? How the hell should I know? And thankfully, they don’t wear color-coordinated costumes.

Judging by their Kara-Walker-meets-Donnie-Darko album art, I expected Mr. Gnome to be much creepier. Instead, both members have the healthy, attractive looks of American Apparel models. And neither is less than four feet tall with a long white beard. Only one gnome-like tendency I noticed: the drummer played barefoot.