Third gig in three days and I’m beginning to think I’m too old for this. The is a Joy Collective gig though so I’m pulling myself together and representing this ole site.
I’m a bit surprised on arrival that She Keeps Bees have brought their friends along from End Of The Road and have asked if they can play. Fuck it, why not eh? Hence we start with…
This Frontier Needs Heroes who are a brother and sister outfit from Brooklyn. They peddle a nice line in downbeat folk and sound somewhere between Gram and Emmylou and the baritone aceness of Pedro The Lion. Jessica is very good at clicking her fingers and Brad has very cool hair that I’m envious of.
Next up are Twi The Humble Feather who I’m going to admit here and not to being confused by and slightly scared. On the surface they are three guys from New York, one of whom is wearing a hat at a jaunty angle. They may or may not be vegan and they all play acoustic guitar. Sam the DJ thinks they sound like an acoustic Animal Collective and I see his point. These guys don’t sing though, they use their voices as an added instrument and while the rest of the crowd is captivated by their hypnotic chanting, I’m hiding in a corner reminded of songs from both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wizard Of Oz, both of which have crazy painted little people that freak me out.
I’ve never seen Race Horses before but I have two friends that oppose their existence for reasons other than music and many more friends that appear in their video which you can view here. I’m intrigued to encounter them myself. They begin by sounding much like I expected, a kind of Gorky’s lite indie pop band, they got better with every song though and at various points sounded like Roxy Music, Squeeze, Inspiral Carpets and most of all, the fuzzy indie punk of Supergrass. They have a photo of Roy Orbison on their keyboard and end their set clattering through a cover of a Deerhoof song. Thumbs up from me.
She Keeps Bees are they band the crowd are here to see. Those that haven’t caught them at Green Man or Offset are wondering what the hype is all about and those that did see them are fairly unsurprised to see singer Jessica Larrabee take to the stage a little worse for wear. This is how is should be. Bands should drink more.
The reference points are obvious ones, The Kills, The White Stripes and most of all, PJ Harvey. All have their merits but She Keeps Bees have enough talent and charisma to make it big themselves. Songs fly by in a bluster of bluesy geetar and Brooklyn drawl. Jessica’s vocals remind me of Patti Rothberg (who I’ve just googled and found out is a New Yorker herself), all cigerettes, alcohol and attitude. The songs hardly ever reach three minutes and almost all end abruptly which leads to some awkward silences while people try to work out whether to clap or not. Clap they do though as this band fucking rocks. Even at midnight on a Monday.
