I’ve been waiting for this one for a while, actually… I’d picked up on LA’s Tiny Stills back in 2020, those dark days of Covid lockdown being enlivened by a few choice recommendations from the “Revolt Into Style” facebook new music page… and most notably, the bright, snappy indie-powerpop bounce of Tiny Stills’ effervescent “Craigslist Bed”, which ultimately topped my singles selection for that year and featured prominently on my 2020 “Best of” CD. I’d been keeping track of the band ever since and hoping they’d manage to make it across the pond, so I booked for the Bristol show immediately when they finally did put together a short UK run, dual-headlining with apparent kindred spirits in London’s Cheerbleederz.
An
economy run down a sunny M4 got me parked in my “loading” spot opposite the
venue at 7.30; wandered downstairs, avoiding the emo kids who were queueing for
the band in the main room, and ran into Bristol gig friend Louise down the
front! A catch up with her and Alan, a fellow veteran gig-goer, passed the time
until openers Top Shortage at 8. Initially easing in with opener “Toi”, an
eerie slow burner building to a more abrasive howling guitar outro and sung in
French by imposing trans vocalist Noa Laqueche, they then delved into more combative
and tension-filled post-punk jangle, immediately recalling the likes of The
Fall and particularly Au Pairs in both sonic template and in-your-face
delivery. “Welcome to the angry part of the set; I’ve got a lot of feelings and
I’m expressing them onstage!” announced Noa before the confrontational, almost
Crass-like anti-transphobe paean of “Mirror”, again dominated by Noa’s
impassioned vocal. Indeed, the later, tempo-changing set highlight “Susan
Stryker” saw her abandon the stage altogether and properly get in the faces of the
assembled. A band with a lot to say, then, and a dynamic and determined but
very articulate and listenable way of saying it…
A quick loo break before I grabbed my spot again for Tiny Stills, the trio taking the stage at 8.45, with diminutive yet sparkling vocalist Kailynn West tentatively asking, “shall we rock?” before announcing the band’s first Bristol date with “Schadenfreude”, an ebullient slab of doo-wop inflected pop punk, apparently, “about hating people!” The wide-eyed, if slightly raw and ragged, bounce of “Craigslist Bed” and the Pixies/ grunge-lite Letters To Cleo-esque “Not Dead Yet” followed in short order to an enthusiastic reception (myself already throwing shapes down the front), low-slung bassist Chris Clark announcing at its’ conclusion, “Bristol’s the best city we’ve been to yet!”
Tiny
Stills’ self-professed modus operandi is apparently to deliver “Pop
Songs For Sentimental Punks”, and for all their upbeat chiming guitars,
C86-esque innocent vocal deliveries and gushing enthusiasm, there’s an darker and
more serious lyrical edge to Tiny Stills work. “This song’s about divorce,” was
an introduction used on more than one occasion, and the strident shouted hook
of “We Really Felt Something” was preceded by a lengthy preamble from Kailynn
about finding hope and joy in these dark times. Then, following a grungier “Everything
Is Going Great”, during which 2 Cheerbleederz joined on backing vocals, the set
took a more introspective turn to finish; Kailynn advised us that Avery, their
intended 4th member, was struggling with food poisoning in London
which forced a rethink of their set, with the plaintive strumalong of “Bait And
Switch” and a couple of solo Kailynn numbers in the emotionally charged “Space
X” and “Delete All Future Events” rounding off a fine set, both of the last
numbers again preceded by a lengthy exploration of their difficult and highly
personal subject matter, but again flipping the narrative to focus on hope.
I took a break outside afterwards, returning for part of Cheerbleederz set; I liked “Cute As Hell”, a dumb but enjoyable Ramones-esque pop punk romp from this distaff power trio, but could have done without their cover of Cher’s cheesy 80’s hit “Believe”. Perhaps if I caught them on a different day I’d have enjoyed them more (although chances for that may be scarce in the near future, one of the band alluding to their needing to take a “pregnant pause”…!), but after the in-your-face polemic of the openers and the bouncy yet thought-provoking Tiny Stills, they seemed a little, well, insubstantial really… So I grabbed a chat with an enthusiastic Kailynn and got my list signed before making an early exit, home for 11. Well worth the wait for Tiny Stills, then, a band who revealed some hidden lyrical depths tonight to go with the Cleos-esque powerpop. Nice one folks!
