Santogold

Sat., Dec. 1, 8:30 p.m., $20, with M.I.A. and the Cool Kids, Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., 215-627-1332, livenation.com.

by John Vettese

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Published: Nov 27, 2007

rock/pop

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When Santi White fronted the under-appreciated art-punk combo Stiffed, the Philly native — now living in Bed-Stuy, New York — countered her bandmates' reggae grooves and explosive guitar energy with melody. Her slick singing and catchy hooks betrayed time spent in the top-40 world, working A&R for Epic and writing a large portion of Res' 2001 album How I Do. Having excelled in the extremes, ultra-accessible pop, confrontational rock, White blends both camps into her current outfit, Santogold. The fierce dub backdrop loads up on the bass, causes the speakers to buzz and vibrate and makes her backing musicians look damn close to passing out from the din. But White has a natural ability to work a crowd, stalking back and forth, spitting her vocals into the mic, slapping high-fives to the front row and making every person in the room want to jump in the air. Like M.I.A., for whom she opens at the Factory on Saturday, White is a unifier, striving — and succeeding — at making the dirty underground play nice with the mainstream.

Sat., Dec. 1, 8:30 p.m., $20, with M.I.A. and the Cool Kids, Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., 215-627-1332, livenation.com.

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