LIVE: Lunar Vacation @ Moth Club, 11.05.2022

Having been completely addicted to last year’s debut album from Lunar Vacation – listening to it pretty much non-stop for the last six months – I was excited to finally see the Atlanta-based band live at Moth Club last Wednesday.

The night opens with the shimmering, uplifting grace of German band Roller Derby, and – as they treat the crowd to a mesmerising cover from their “favourite UK band”, I shimmy along to ‘Friday, I’m In Love’, and come to the realisation that I may have just discovered my new favourite band.

After introducing themselves – explaining that they had to get the ‘Chunnel’ to come over to the UK – Lunar Vacation begin their set with the blissful tones of ‘Peddler’, instantly captivating the crowd of adoring fans, as an endearing sense of excitement and joy radiates throughout the sparkling interior of Moth Club. Following the jangly musicality and swirling surf-pop energy of ‘The Basement’, Lunar Vacation ask “someone they met earlier today” to join them on stage – and so we’re introduced to Ella, a mega fan who seems to have learnt ‘Unlucky’ note-for-note and seems completely at ease joining the band on guitar for the entirety of the track’s twinkling romanticism.

Discussing the title of their album, Inside Every Fig Is A Dead Wasp, front person Grace explains that it is indeed a true fact – despite being a fruit, figs are not vegan, due to the amount of dead wasps you may accidentally come across when eating them. So, no more figs for me… Continuing to charm the crowd with both insightful knowledge and a dreamy musicality, the band ease into ‘Where Is Everyone?’ and ‘Mold’, flowing into each song with their trademark lilting hooks and stirring, sparkling emotion.

As Grace’s luscious crystalline vocals ripple alongside the cinematic instrumentation, I notice someone in the crowd literally do a little jump for joy… And it’s poignant just what a truly joyous atmosphere has been created. The front couple of rows are pretty much entirely made up of smiling femmes and queers; all swaying along, beaming, singing along to each and every word of Lunar Vacation’s glistening offerings. The kind of euphoric sense of unity I hope to create at the gigs I host for Get In Her Ears.

Following the gentle ethereal splendour of ‘No Offerings’, guitarist Maggie continues the endearing witty banter, revealing that Grace has always wished she was British, and was hoping that Alex Turner may have made an appearance tonight…

As the sweeping, mystical allure of tracks such as ‘Anna’ and ‘Gears’ floats through the venue with an exquisite heartfelt charm, I remain utterly immersed in Lunar Vacation’s knack for perfectly fusing together a beautiful, stirring melancholy with an uplifting, rapturous energy.

As the set draws to a close, the disappointment doesn’t last long as the band sneakily reappear a moment later to treat us to a little encore and – as the whimsical majesty of ‘Swimming’ glides into our ears – I’m left feeling utterly elated. Any worries or stresses I may have had on arriving at Moth Club tonight have floated away on the truly dreamy, radiant grace and heartwarming sense of unity that Lunar Vacation have created.


Mari Lane
@marimindles

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Get In Her Ears Live at The Shacklewell Arms w/ The Menstrual Cramps, 06.05.2022

On Friday, we were back at The Shacklewell Arms in Dalston with the most epic of line-ups. The Menstrual Cramps, pink suits and Queen Cult treated us to an immense few hours of live music. Huge thanks to them all, and to all the lovely folk who came out to support them and fill the venue… We’re still feeling all the feels, and are extremely grateful to everyone who made it such a beautiful night.

First up, Cheshire up and coming band Queen Cult kick things off with a wonderfully entertaining set. With a swirling infectious energy and quirky charisma, they immerse us in their fiercely impassioned offerings raging against the patriarchy; cementing themselves firmly as definite ones to watch on the new music scene.

Next up, Margate based pink suits deliver an immense and truly poignant set. From the wonderfully witty ‘Are You Gay Yet?’ to the all-too-resonant seething splendour of politcally-charged anthems such as ‘Fake Great Britain’ and ‘Anarchist Wisdom’, the incredible duo just seem to magnificently capture the burning anger, frustration and sadness that so many of us are feeling right now, whist bringing us together with an empowering sense of unity.

Headlining the night, we’re extremely honoured to have Bristol’s The Menstrual Cramps deliver their first London gig in over two and a half years. Covering topics ranging from political unrest and violence against women to more celebratory anthems in favour of pleasuring ourselves, the band’s shiny new line-up blast out raging offerings new and old with a ferocious energy and joyous, chaotic force. With their immense, impassioned drive and utterly necessary message of coming together against the right wing hellscape that this country is becoming, they simultaneously unite the crowd in a cathartic explosion of angst-driven power and elated euphoria. Shouting along to ‘Cull The Tories’ has never felt more urgent.

Huge love and thanks again to all three bands who played for us on Friday, and to everyone who came out to share the music and good vibes. We’re returning to The Victoria on 24th June with Slagheap, Nervous Twitch and The Famous Daxx – get your tickets on DICE now!

Words: Mari Lane
Photos: Keira-Anee Photography

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Track Of The Day: Queen Cult – ‘Beautiful Psycho’

The very earliest opening notes of Queen Cult’s new track ‘Beautiful Psycho‘ drop you into the song’s fiercely unique duality. The combination of heavy, rumbling chords and lighter melodic notes over the top juxtapose darkness and playfulness that feeds every choice made in the track.

The contrast is reflected in the structure of the song; the bright, chirpy verses crescendo into the throbbing, heavy chorus, before returning to the upbeat poppy sound. The potentially conflicting styles work together really well to leap between churning emotions.

This creates the perfect backdrop for the lyrics. Delivered with rich, powerful vocals, they embody feelings of obsession. Without naming the object in question, the song is left open for you to project whatever dangerous thing captivates you into its narrative, but its careful choice of words and bold delivery absorbs you into the feeling behind it so effectively that you hardly notice the lack of specificity. It evokes exactly the feeling you need it to.

Together, the different elements of the song draw you into a pattern of infatuation that cycles between thrilling high points and lows in which you are forced to recognise the looming, painful end. The desire to cling to the experience battles against the knowledge that it is ultimately doomed to a tragic collapse, but in the meantime it (and the track) are a wildly fun ride.

Creative and intelligent from the very first bars, ‘Beautiful Psycho’ establishes Queen Cult as a band with a distinctly intense sound and a flair for crafting depth.

Catch Queen Cult live tonight opening our night at The Shacklewell Arms with The Menstrual Cramps and pink suits! Tickets still available on Dice.

Kirstie Summers
@ActuallyKurt

Photo Credit: Madeleine Fisher

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Introducing Interview: Bestfriend

Following last year’s debut EP, places i’ve lived, LGBTQ Vancouver/Toronto based bedroom-pop duo Bestfriend have now announced the release of their upcoming new EP, due out in the summer. Ahead of the EP, they have now shared an utterly dreamy new offering. Reflecting on the optimistic feelings of a new crush, ‘Someplace Else’ oozes a lush, ethereal soundscape as sugar-sweet harmonies flow with a shimmering, uplifting energy.

We caught up with Stacy and Kaelan to find out more…

Hi Bestfriend! Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
Stacy: A tough one right off the bat! I should format this one like a tinder bio. Stacy, 6’11 (if that matters). 
Kaelan: Kaelan, I have no bio but my anthem is set as a song from the ’90s so you know I’m really cool.

Are you able to tell us a bit about how you initially started creating music together?
S: Instagram DMs. I love the internet.
K: One of those “I follow you because I’m good friends with your good friend but we’ve never met” kind of situations for like five years before that. Funny.

I love your dreamy electro-pop sounds, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
S: Thank you! I have a lot of songwriting influences and a lot of production influences, which I suppose is actually the point of this question you’ve asked here- lots of songwriters I love are generally really quiet, sad, indie singer-songwriters: Julia Jacklin, Big Thief, The National, to name a few. Production-wise, Kaelan and I have the exact same inspo artists, so I’ll let him take that one. 
K: We both listened to a whole lot of absolutely anything Justin Vernon did growing up. Quite the fella. 

You’ve just released your new single ‘Someplace Else’, taken from your upcoming EP, places i’ve left, which is set for release in the summer. Are you able to tell us a bit about the EP? Are there any particular themes running throughout it?
S: Yes! I’m so excited! places i’ve left is the sister EP for places i’ve lived, which we considered to be, like, a series of love letters to our past lives – college life, relationships, friendships, all of the places we used to live, et cetera. places i’ve left is going to close this era out for us, and is really going to be a series of songs that are forward-looking: What are we doing now? What are we dealing with now, good or bad? What are we, as people, but also as Bestfriend, going to do from here?

How have you found recording and promoting an EP during these strange times?
S: Love this question, because the answer is that it really hasn’t changed for us at all! We’ve been making music remotely since 2018, figuring out promotion and releases remotely. 

How do you feel the industry is for new artists at the moment? And do you feel much has changed over the last few years in its treatment of female and LGBTQ+ artists?
S: Oof, I definitely have a lot of feelings about this. New artists in general I think are turning what I think is one of the weirdest corners to have come around in a long time in the industry. We now have this chance for literally everyone and anyone to put their music out there and be heard. The only music I listened to in high school was music I learned about through word of mouth, one-off random shows I’d go to, the radio… Now, it’s just a matter of, like, going to Spotify/Apple Music/whatever DSP and literally typing in “new music”. So, on one hand – awesome, getting your music heard is less of a problem, but on the other, you’re really hard-pressed to find a way to stand out in a super saturated digital world of networking, business, “working the industry”, all that. And I think, personally speaking, it’s become a small percentage less about just the music, and a lot more about the Music Business. As for the treatment of female/LGBTQ+ artists, lots of feelings on this as well. It’s amazing that we’re now at a point where LGBTQ+ folks are openly singing about their experiences without the veiled pronouns layered within metaphors. It’s really freeing. It feels amazing. But I think it’d be remiss to not say that there’s still a long way to go. I’m finding that intersectionality in LGBTQ+ music is still insanely difficult to come by, and LGBTQ+ artists are still sort of being tokenized as LGBTQ+ artists, and not just… Musicians. Not to sound like a pessimist! Silver linings everywhere. Just lots of work to be done still.

You’re based in Vancouver and Toronto, how is the music scene there? Do you feel that the live music community there has recovered since the pandemic?
S: Vancouver, not really yet. Though I’ve definitely been seeing more and more shows happening, so I’m really excited for it to come back.
K: I could write essays about the Toronto indie rock scene of the late ’00s & early ’10s. Definitely don’t think the city has found its groove again post-pandemic but we’ll get there. Seasons for everything.

 As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other upcoming artists or bands you’re loving right now that you’d recommend we check out?
S: Hoodie Browns & The Neighbourhood Strangers – insanely cool group who have been playing lots of local shows here and I think have been working on some releases. Keep an eye out for them. I cannot stress enough how cool they are. 
K: I’ll actually just take the opportunity to hop on the back of what Stacy said and shout out a truly great live show I cannot wait to see again. Busty and the Bass – they’re a group of like 8-10 dudes that met while at school for music and just said “hey, let’s write the coolest like, electro soul adjacent music ever and put on shows with all the coolest instruments (which we of course all mastered at music school) and make everyone dance all night.”

In addition to the EP release, what does the rest of the year have in store for Bestfriend?
S: Live shows! Writing! A lot of fun stuff!

Massive thanks to Stacy and Kaelan for answering our questions!

places i’ve left, the upcoming new EP from Bestfriend, is set for release this summer.

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