Funny
how gigs are like buses… sometimes they all come in a little clutch, and such
is the case with this, the first of 3 in 4 days over a hectic weekend, and a
swift return to my Spring Dance Card for The Beths! This New Zealand 4-piece
had cropped up as support for Death Cab For Cutie in January, and I’d been
sufficiently impressed to pick up a copy of their (sadly 2018, a year too late
for my “Best Of” CD compo) debut CD “Future Me Hates Me”. Apparently Ben
Gibbard’s fave of the year, it quickly became a staple in-car choice, with some
buoyant girly-vocalled indie pop tunes, in turns jangly and fuzz-guitar
sugar-coated, occasionally galloping along like a latter-day Popguns or even
(dare I say it) Blondie (!), and overlaid with some lovely multi-part
harmonies. Either way, I was up for seeing them in their own right, so gladly
pounced on their swift headlining return to these shores, picking up a ticket
for their Oxford date, originally scheduled for The Hobgoblin but quickly
upgraded to The Bully due to demand. This seemed to be the case elsewhere too;
their original Bristol Exchange gig sold out so was upgraded to The Fleece,
which promptly sold out too!
A
bit of a “buzz band”, therefore, so no surprise I had company for my trip, in
Andy, Beef and his mate Dean. A festival-chat punctuated drive along the
sinuous A420 ensued, and we arrived in time to dive into a well-spotted street
parking space next to the as-ever overcrowded Cowley Road Tesco Car Park. Got
in at 7.45 doors, hit the front and watched the place swiftly fill up before
openers Junk Whale took the stage at 8.10. A young local 4-piece with female guitar and bass, and in vocalist Joe Turner, a striking, stylish and unique figure, diminutive,
shaven headed and wearing black velvet hot pants and black check tights. Not too sure what to
expect from them, but I was quickly impressed by opener “Purple”, which featured some
pacey Dinosaur Jr.-style insistent and groovy laze-rock, with urgent backing
vocals courtesy of the guitarist/bassist combo and a catchy “be with me” looped hook. A subsequent
slower second number chuntered on in that slightly sleazy Pixies style, but the
pace was picked up again, further numbers also impressing with some duelling vocals on the chorus line, reminiscent of Seafood… ah yes, ‘da mighty ‘food
almost seemed a touchstone for this band, operating as they did in that similar
pre-grunge US alt-rock slacker headspace, and I saw echoes of David Line in the
way Joe stomped around the stage, head down, sawing furiously at a hapless rhythm
guitar. A little lacking in cohesion at this early stage, understandably, but
this was bright, brisk alt-rock played at a furious gallop, with some snappy
endings and in closer “I Tried” an anthemic track with a yearning chorus and
some seriously shredding feedback to close it out. Impressive stuff… I’d
certainly see this band again!
A
quick chat with Joe on the merch stand, and also some words with The Beths, all
merch-stand bound, getting my event poster (which I’d hastily grabbed on the
way in) signed and exchanging some words about mutual friend Dianne Swann, late
of my wonderful 90’s faves The Julie Dolphin, took us up to main support Hans
Pucket’s stage time. A NZ 3-piece – 2 guitar-toting brothers and their hefty
drummer bandmate – they played an almost classic take on New Wavey rhythmic
pop, considerably more laid back than the openers yet with emphasis on hooks
and intelligent songcraft. I caught shades of The Police in their choral
hookiness, early Cars in their stripped-back rhythm and even (when they turned on
the Summery funk) Orange Juice and Aztec Camera. A pretty decent blend and an
enjoyable set, although for me I preferred the urgent openers…
Took
a loo break midway through their set and found the place rammed all the way to
the back! Likely sold-out on the night then… The Beths themselves took the
stage at 9.30 prompt, seemingly taken aback by the keen reception and interest.
Get used to it, guys… shy glances between the band members before they eased
into their set with CD title track “Future Me Hates Me”, which almost felt
understated in comparison to the coruscating fuzz-pop rhythm of the CD version.
Sadly, “Not Running”, a breathless gallop, also felt a little low-key, as the
sound and the band took time to settle to their task, but by the happy-clappy
doo-wop and rousing schoolhouse cheer of “You Wouldn’t Like Me”, they finally
hit their stride. Shame the audience didn’t…
I
was bopping away next to a similarly dancing “Beef” and another chap, but us
aside, tonight’s audience were disappointingly static, and it felt as if many
were really only here to check out the latest “Buzz” band rather than actually
enjoy The Beths. A really odd atmosphere, then, but The Beths soldiered on
regardless. “Less Than Thou” was a pastoral slow-build to an insistent
road-trip groove, “Happy Unhappy” a Summery jangle-fest with some delicately
high, almost Mary Lorson-like vocals from singer Elizabeth Stokes, and “Great
No One” a fast-paced gallop with some stream-of-consciousness vocals. In
between, Elizabeth kept nervously repeating the band’s name, demonstrating the
between-song banter needs work, but no matter, the music was more than enough. “Whatever”
showed all the makings of a Summer smash, with some gorgeous 3-part harmonies
and a sly nod to Blondie’s “Sunday Girl” in a mid-song break, and closer “Uptown
Girl” was a frantic, urgent finale. To cap things off, they tried an
understated but charming run-through of recent tour-mates Death Cab For Cutie’s
“Soul Meets Body” (which, oddly, very few of this audience seemed to know)
before “Little Death” roared the proceedings to a conclusion. Slow start maybe,
but a sprint finish and a fine set!
Grabbed
a list and got it fully signed too by the band, once again manning the merch
stand afterwards. Good on ‘em! A soggy drive home and drop-offs saw me home
just before midnight, hoping that The Beths will continued to be frequent
visitors to these shores. Overall, a damn fine start to my busy gig weekend!
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