Get In Her Ears Live @ Notting Hill Arts Club w/ Alyss 01.12.18

Get In Her Ears returned to West London’s Notting Hill Arts Club on Saturday night to host another successful night full of alternative electronic music. For our second gig at the venue, we chose Alyss to headline; with support coming from the brilliant Elsa Hewitt, Temples of Youth and Varley.

First up were Berlin-based trio Varley, who played a beautiful stripped back set to an appreciative, respectfully quiet crowd. Vocalist Claire-Ann Varley’s gentle, clear voice was perfectly accompanied by the acoustic & electric guitar sounds of bandmates Matthias Heising & Joschka Bender. When she cautiously asked for a little audience participation during one particular song, she was rewarded with attempts to mimic her soft voice, and the trio left the stage to well deserved and rapturous applause.

 

 

Up next were our favourites, electronic duo Temples Of Youth, who (as always) performed a stunning set. Jo & Paul’s blend of old and new songs – including ‘Darker Places’, the title track from their latest EP – captivated the crowd with their ambient guitar sounds and Jo’s standout vocals. We never tire of seeing these two live, and we were thrilled to have them on the bill with other talented electronic artists.

Penultimate act Elsa Hewitt was a one woman music machine. She played a hypnotising set, which included her latest single ‘Invisible Threads’. It’s always a pleasure to watch artists lose themselves within their own sound, and watching Elsa perform her intricate tuning and triggering, whilst simultaneously performing her soft vocals so seamlessly was a genuine pleasure to witness. We were so caught up in her soundscapes we lost track of time, and as we gently ushered her set to a close, electro-pop Queen Alyss took centre stage.

Clad in a shiny cape and black-rimmed hat, headline act Alyss dominated the stage with her powerful vocals and uncompromising attitude. Performing as a one woman band, she had the room packed full of fans who were dancing along to her pop hooks and bouncing beats.

Huge thanks to the bands and to Notting Hill Arts Club, and extended thanks to all those who donated their spare change on the door to National AIDS Trust on #WorldAIDSday – we appreciate your generosity!

Keep your eyes peeled for more gig announcements from us soon.

Photo Credit: Jon Mo Photography

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LIVE (Photos): Tokyo Taboo @ Camden Fest, 29.11.18

GIHE faves Tokyo Taboo have long been blowing us away with their immense, riotous live performances and seething energy, and so we’re extremely excited that their new single ‘No Pleasure Only Pain’ is out today. Raging with the band’s trademark ferocity as whirring hooks race alongside tremendous beats, it’s the perfect example of the soaring power of front-woman Dolly Daggerz’ vocals.

To celebrate the single’s release, Tokyo Taboo held an immense launch party last night at Fest Camden, along with fellow favourites Thunder On The Left, Bugeye, HAWXX and newcomers Bled The Fifth. Our Jon Mo was there to capture all the action…

Bled The Fifth:

Bugeye:

HAWXX:

Thunder On The Left:

Tokyo Taboo:

Photo Credit: Jon Mo / @jonmophoto

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LIVE: Kiran Leonard @ Moth Club, 27.11.18

Arriving at the sparkling facade of the Moth Club just in time to catch the wonderful, string-strewn, punk-driven cacophony of POZI, I’m ready to be blown away by Manchester artist Kiran Leonard once again.

Opening with the first track from his new album Western Culture, ‘The Universe Knows No Smile’ immediately draws us into the whirring, twinkling splendour and multiple sonic elements of Leonard’s creations. Following, as does the album, with ‘Paralysed Force’, we bear witness to an immense raw emotion and impassioned majesty that casts us under Leonard’s spell in an instant. Angst-driven, yet dreamily euphoric; discordant, yet eerily beautiful; he wails, and he whispers, captivating the ears and not losing focus for a second. Showcasing his innovative song-writing skill with rich, multi-layered soundscapes and an epic intensity, Leonard continues to captivate as his soaring falsetto soars amid immense whirring hooks and mind-blowing, clattering cowbell-heavy beats.

Reflecting on the state of society with a spine-tingling poignancy, ‘Working People’ flows with intricate finger-picking and the distinct, visceral emotion of Leonard’s vocals, providing an utterly engrossing and lyrically rich offering, resonating with a subtle power. Continuing the run of album tracks, ‘An Easel’ (“ a song about power and responsibility…”) emanates a racing sense of urgency.

Interrupting the order of tracks from Western Culture, we’re treated to a “long song” from 2016’s Grapefruit. With fluid finger-picked hooks and swirling layers of sound, throughout ‘Don’t Make Friends With Good People’, Leonard blasts out immense shocks of energy interwoven with moments of quiet reflection, as frenzied beats are juxtaposed with an intricate musicality, building to create an utterly blissful cacophony. Continuing with another “old song”, and personal favourite, ‘Secret Police’ oozes its stirring anthemic grandeur and cinematic, goosebump-inducing power, leaving me as spellbound as the first time I heard it, back at Green Man Festival a few years back.

And back to the new album. Inspired by a conversation with a friend about stress, ‘Shuddering Instance’ races with scuzzy, discordant hooks and a gritty, seething passion before ‘Unreflective Life’ (“a song about selfies”) and ‘Suspension’ whirr with a raw ferocity.

Closing with ‘Geraldo’s Farm’, from 2013’s debut Bowler Hat Soup, a magnificent wall of sound of epic proportions is created, as each of the four band members offer their own intense sonic force, spiralling to a potent, dramatic climax to end the set.

And once again, Kiran Leonard has succeeded in taking my breath away. This being perhaps the fifth time I’ve seen him live, I was a little worried – as with any favourite – that this time wouldn’t be as impressive as the last, but I certainly had nothing to fear. A perfectly balanced set of songs new and old, Kiran Leonard and his band continue to offer something entirely unique and unforgettably poignant. The emotion and hypnotic sense of awe generated whilst watching Leonard live is unparalleled to any other performance I’ve seen. Although I have compared him to the likes of underrated ‘90s grunge outfit, Slint, in the past – and the similarities remain – it is safe to say that Kiran Leonard is truly one of a kind. And I can’t wait to hear where he might take our ears next.

Western Culture, the new album from Kiran Leonard, is out now.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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LIVE: Wolf Girl, Charmpit & Sex Jokes @ Rough Trade Nottingham, 15.11.18

A Fan Club show is always a treat not only for being brilliantly curated, but for its ‘everyone welcome’ party vibe. Tonight we’re getting three acts who give out summer-esque sounds about winter-cold feelings, and back up that sense of belonging by adding to a tribe made of those who don’t comfortably fit.

Opening tonight is Derby’s Sex Jokes – one of the many musical guises of Shelley Jane Newman (also of Mighty Kids) – who has been one of my favourite acts to debut this year, and with each performance I’m a little more deeply in love. The set opens with ‘Talk’, the only track available online, a power pop anthem with voluminous guitar and “bored-of-your-bullshit” vocals. It brings in influences from Rilo Kiley to Jucifer, Tacocat to Pillow Queens, but the result is recognisable as being very much Sex Jokes’ own sound.

Charmpit are, well, charming. With laid-back chat between songs and a definite surf-pop vibe, they bring the sunshine and some gorgeous dual-harmonies which evoke the best of ‘60s sound. Recent single ‘Squirrel Vision’ and ‘Summer Up My Skirt’ mix the rough-edged guitar with the back and forth mid-song chat of The Shangri-Las, before the chants break back in. It’s the mix of the punk attitude of The Slits with the harmonies and sing-a-long hooks of The Ronettes which make Charmpit instantly recognisable and irresistibly catchy.

Charmpit

Headlining are Wolf Girl – and while the two opening acts have set the bar high, they vault it with ease with a set consisting of the best from new album Every Now and Then. These songs are full of determination and vulnerability, intelligent lyrics that are relatable, not aloof, and melodies that cut through you in the best possible way.

There’s plenty of West Coast surf-pop here too, and the sort of wistful melancholy wrapped in jangling melody that Upset and The Muffs have, but it’s the lyricism which sticks with you. Lines like, “Don’t want to get to thirty without learning to drive / Don’t want to look back having felt barely alive” become visceral through their resonance rather than through the words themselves, and while slacker-pop and problematic adulting are dealt with, so are themes of identity and love; making this a set of songs unafraid of the big and small details of life.

Most of all, Wolf Girl, like Charmpit and Sex Jokes before them tonight, are about belonging even when you feel you don’t belong. All three bands are suave and scrappy, giving a night full of 60’s pop-influenced hooks with the sweetness razor-edged by grating guitars, and wry but honest lyrics sung in dual-vocals to amplify the personal and political. These are our experiences echoed back from the stage, these are our thoughts and feelings honed into three minute punk pop chunks that make the heart soar and the feet dance. This gig, these bands, are the sound of the new underground and the real punk spirit and tonight they delivered in style.

Words: Sarah Lay
Photo Credit: Sarah Lay

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