Levitation Live Shot: Mini Mansions

L.A.’s Mini Mansions sparked in 2009 when Queens of the Stone Age languished in a two-year hiatus. Bassist Michael Shuman commandeered a drum kit, and cobbled together a threepiece. He returned to QOTSA when it reunited in 2011, but refused to abandon his synth-fueled side gig.

That turned out to be the right decision.

Queens of the Stone Age announced last month that they’re “taking a break” again, less than a week before Mini Mansions’ synth-saturated sophomore effort, The Great Pretenders, was due to drop. Centerstage at Levitation’s Reverberation stage Friday night, wrapped in a stark white blazer, Shuman strutted both the new material and his falsetto with tremulous yelps throughout the 45-minute set.

When they visited Austin last year on tour with the Artic Monkeys, they saw the most fortunate of the area high school students crammed into the Cedar Park Center. This time, a stench from the disturbed soil clung to the air, and shirtless college freshmen wiggled out awkward, Molly-induced dances to “Any Emotions” and “Freakout!” You know, real Austin.

Sandwiched between keyboardist Tyler Parkford and bassist Zach Dawes, Shuman alternated between high-pitched keens and petulant drums solos, occasionally picking up his guitar. The crowd sunk even further into the mud when the 29-year-old delivered a devastating, exquisitely slow rendition of Blondie’s 1978 hit “Heart of Glass,” which the trio recorded for their freshman release.

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