 Reviewers described live concerts by the Amps as <unk> and relaxed . The Chronicle 's <unk> <unk> praised their show at an unidentified location as " fun @-@ spirited and silly " . Greg <unk> of The Chicago Tribune described one of their Chicago performances as " off @-@ <unk> " and wrote that " Deal 's pungent vocals were swallowed up by the guitars , and the <unk> 's slight melodies were lost amid all the bashing . " A review in The Chicago Reader of the same concert noted that " The Amps play with a low @-@ key , <unk> sound . " The Phoenix 's Matt <unk> felt that at their December 1995 show in Boston " the Amps didn 't click in a way that would suggest that this was Deal 's new , full @-@ time band " ; he added that it was " an <unk> gritty way for Deal to let off some steam while the Breeders [ took ] a little break " . In Boston Rock , this concert was characterized as " <unk> " but " charm [ ing ] ... hanging loosely off Kim 's <unk> vocals and <unk> personality " . 
