LIVE: The Big Moon – Omeara, NME Awards Nominations Party, 17.01.18

They may have based their bitter-sweet single ‘Happy New Year’ around memory loss, but The Big Moon‘s set at Omeara on Wednesday night was far from forgettable. The band played the intimate venue as part of the NME Awards Nominations Party, and their garage-rock tunes and contagious enthusiasm kept the crowd bouncing from start to finish.

Introduced by NME Deputy Editor Tom Howard as “really great, and a little bit tipsy,” the band kicked things off with summery anthem ‘Silent Movie Susie’. What followed was a set-list brimming with tracks from their Mercury Prize nominated debut album, Love In The 4th Dimension.

Established singles like ‘The Road’ and ‘Sucker’ sounded as fresh as ever, whilst newer releases ‘Formidable’, ‘Cupid’ & ‘Pull The Other One’ were delivered with precision and charm. The riotous ‘Bonfire’ was the clear fan favourite, and when vocalist Juliette broke the fourth wall and made her way in to the middle of the crowd – their faces lit up.

The Omeara show marked the band’s first gig of 2018 and they thanked fans for coming out to join them on their “rusty roller-coaster”. As an unexpected treat, they covered Bonnie Tyler’s classic ballad ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ in their own joyful, laid-back style, before closing their set with ‘Sucker’. The Big Moon have an enviable ability to charm and impress a crowd with their relatable indie tunes and they left everyone* (*us) with heart-shaped eyes at the end of the night.

Vote for The Big Moon in the ‘Best Video’ category of the 2018 NME Awards!

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

LIVE: Bloom Twins @ 229 The Venue, 07.12.17

Ukrainian multi-instrumental sister act Bloom Twins delivered their unique blend of electro-dark pop to an enthusiastic crowd at 229 The Venue last Thursday night.

Despite an overlay of darkness being their signature style on their tracks, Sonya and Anya bring a charismatic energy to their performance – being completely at ease joking with the crowd between songs, encouraging us all to let loose by jumping up and down on cue. There was no need for instructions in order to get the crowd dancing, however, as the energy from the twins is utterly contagious. Playing multiple instruments throughout a set would be enough to bring any musician out in a nervous sweat, but rotating through drums, flutes and harmonicas comes as second nature to Bloom Twins, as natural to them as breathing.

The twins’ first single ‘Fahrenheit’ evokes a sense of warm nostalgia throughout the crowd and reminds us just how far The Ukrainian sisters have come on their musical journey; not only being a part of UNICEF’s ‘Imagine’ campaign but also embarking on a world tour with Duran Duran in 2016.

We’re also treated to a preview of their latest single ‘Talk To Me’, an electro-pop ballad which tackles the heavy issue of mental illness. Whilst there’s been much coverage in the media surrounding mental illness in the music industry recently, ‘Talk To Me’ carries hope that one day the stigma will be removed entirely – giving the message to open up about issues that are weighing you down.

Being identical twins, it is an obvious cliché to state that Bloom Twins share a special bond. However, once they’re both on stage the bond between them is highlighted, reflected via beautiful vocal harmonies with both sisters possessing an effortless, extensive range.

Bloom Twins never fail to captivate with their performances; casting us all under their spell with haunting harmonies, boundless energy and overall raw talent.

Nicky Lee-Delisle

 

 

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

LIVE: Girl Ray @ EBGBs, 30.10.17

During their headline set, Girl Ray lead singer Poppy Hankin confesses that tonight’s show – part of the annual Liverpool Music Week festival – is the band’s first outside of the capital. Appropriately, then, the headliners take to the stage in the basement of EBGBs after a line-up featuring several local acts.

Disastronauts are first up. A four-piece specialising in totes emosh pop-punk and garage, their sound is typified by shredded Sonic Youth-y guitars on top of a bang-bang-boom rhythm section, with flips into math rock and pure grunge. They’re young, and raw, but there’s no shortage of talent and invention, with opener ‘The River’ demonstrating a rapidly-developing maturity. Special props to their drummer too who, whilst the lead singer and guitarist are acapella-ing the lyric “It’s time to go”, decides to dismantle his cymbals. It’s a riotous, consciously chaotic start to the night. 

Up next are Gintis. Hailing originally from Abergele, they’re an acoustically-driven latter-day take on the likes of Grandaddy and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, with the addition of a trumpet.  fter them, it’s Sugarmen – an indie-rock band with a drive that sits somewhere between Buzzcocks and Arctic Monkeys, with the Scouse tinge of The La’s or The Coral’s most upbeat numbers.

Finally, to the headliners, who kick off with the bouncy indiepop double-hit of ‘I’ll Make This Fun’ and ‘Just Like That’. It’s a perfect way of demonstrating their arpeggiated sparkly pop that hangs around Poppy’s vocals, intoning lyrics, all served with just a hint of country winsome.  

The performance of ‘Don’t Go Back at Ten’ even involves a line-dancing style 360° spin, courtesy of Poppy and bassist Sophie, during its middle eight, whilst ‘Trouble’ and ‘Stupid Things’, with their bittersweet combination of naïveté and confession, carry the band through until their penultimate song, which is a Breeders-like rock number.  

Sid from The Orielles is spotted in the audience and invited to play cowbell on final song, ‘Ghosty’. It’s a reminder that, for a lot of these bands, this is really just the start and, although the set may not have been perfect, there’s enough to suggest that Girl Ray will be venturing out of London for a long time to come.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

LIVE: Dream Wife @ The Magnet, 12.10.17

On the evening after The Guardian released a report showing that sixty-nine percent of bands playing in the UK on this particular Thursday would feature no women, it’s perhaps refreshing to know that bands such as Dream Wife, a trio of women with a touring drummer, are bucking the trend. And the other bands at this gig aren’t doing too bad either – co-headliners Sløtface‘s frontwoman Haley Shea may be backed by three Sleeper-blokes but the band have been outspoken in their feminist stance; support band Peaness are an all-female trio, only making their “no really, it’s safe for work” name all the better.

The latter’s bassist Jess is clearly taking no shit, wearing a tshirt adorned with the message ‘Writing Songs is For Girls’ – for these girls in particular, you might say. Full of poppy hooks that call to mind the best of new wave, power-pop and Britpop, Peaness’ early support slot draws people away from the bar, eager to observe. There’s a grit to things here too; a lo-fi edge verging on grungy, but drawn back by some Girl Ray-style vocal harmonies. The band are breezy on-stage, ripping through a set, and their only concern seems to be making the train back to Chester. And then they’re gone, walking off-stage with guitars on their backs. It’s an ideal set for a band with all the tunes and, hopefully, a railcard or three.

After Sløtface deliver a set that’s hard-edged and spikey, Dream Wife are greeted by a dedicated group of hardcore fans. Opening with ‘Hey Heartbreaker’, the group instantly establish their abrasive punk-funk sound. Rakel is a Mark E Smith style hip priest with lyrics that are repetitive but intoned differently so that each has a fresh impact on delivery.

‘Lolita’ is the same, taking influence from the Nabokov novel but also self-referentially discussing Dream Wife’s place as women in a male-dominated world, all in just ten or so different lines. Beyond the lyrics, the band are perfectly in sync with each other, creating a hypnotic vision as Rakel’s ponytail flicks metronomically between guitarist Alice Go’s 12-string and bassist Bella’s chugging four.

It’s not all style over character though. Rakel tells an anecdote about a YouTube comment and fan favourite ‘Somebody’ is preceded by problems with a broken mic that, somehow, make the band seem all the more disarming and real. ‘Act My Age’ is a traditional punk tune in a ’77 fashion before ‘FUU’ marks the high-point in the night. It’s as riotous and fun as might be expected for a song whose lyrics mix Spice Girls references and the phrase “bad bitches”, whilst Rakel bounces from left to right like a ping-pong ball. They finish, soon after, with ‘Let’s Make Out’, and it’s hard to imagine a more fittingly joyous way to close.

Dream Wife’s merch stand is selling temporary tattoos on this tour – it’s not beyond the imagination that people may want something more permanent before too long.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment