Thursday, March 13   11:00 p.m.
Beauty Bar   (617 E 7th St)

Drop any misconceptions you have about the French: the outdated berets; the
overbearing accents; the presumed sissy-like attitudes. While France continues
to expand as the dominating powerhouse for electro-dance music, the growing
independent dance scene keeps churning out all-night-long party DJs with the
Toxic Avenger quickly rising as the premiere Frenchman taking the dance floor
to a new level.

Born Simon DeLacroix, the man behind the comic book-inspired persona, the
Toxic Avenger is notorious for his infectiously catchy, self-produced dance-a-
thon tunes, but is equally recognized for his perfected remixes, most notably
his work with Sexual Earthquake in Kobe’s “Love with Chloë Sevigny” and “Dance
Among the Ruins” by Tommie Sunshine featuring the queen of raunchy,
Peaches.

Still, music is nothing new to the Toxic Avenger. At the tender age of 12, the
tiny Avenger played for various punk bands, as guitarist and vocalist, and a
number of short-lived hardcore metal bands. Dropping the punk-hardcore
genre, he fell into the electro movement after falling in love with a girl who
worked at an electro radio station. Soon after catching the electro bug, he
began creating songs on his low-budget computer, quickly mastering his
unique sound.

Though his dance-inducing electro remains his signature style, the Toxic
Avenger draws from a number of distinct influences not directly related to the
dance scene. Besides his strange infatuation with Kylie Minogue, whose music
he has asked to remix pro bono, the Toxic Avenger pulls from a wide-ranging
array of influences: emotronic bands, including Autotune; soundtracks of 70s
and 80s low-budget films; and is a self-proclaimed super fan of Weezer and the
Smiths.

When he’s not killing the dance floors, the Toxic Avenger works with his side
projects: the Black Milk, an electro rock band where he plays guitars and
synthesizers; and Ed Wood is Dead, “a band that celebrates B-movies via hip-
hop music,” says the Toxic Avenger.

Signed to Los Angeles-based IHEARTCOMIX Records in March 2007, the Toxic
Avenger has recently finished his first U.S. tour with label boss DJ Franki Chan
and has released his debut EP, a vinyl-only release featuring Toxie’s self-
produced work, both original versions and remixed tracks.