Cats On Fire/A Smile And A Ribbon/Pocketbooks
3 Comments Published by Tom on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at 13:18.
Upstairs at the Horse & Groom in the back streets of Shoreditch is a new venue on me. It's a nice, small room but not to compact with excellent sound quality although the searing heat was somewhat off putting. However it was a worthy sacrifice for this fine gig put on by those people at Spiral Scratch.
The last time I saw Pocketbooks they were, putting it politely, a shambles. It's amazing what a smaller venue and a stripped back line up (they became a three piece tonight) can do to a bands sound. Andy's vocals were strong and not lost as they been on previous live appearances. Emma, minus her keyboard, was brimming fall of confidence. This was despite minimal eye contact with the crowd and until tonight I haven't actually taken in what a great voice she has. I am not saying the band should head down to an acoustic sound as per Monkey Swallows The Universe but maybe they should give it some thought as I always envisaged them sounding this way.
Sweden's A Smile And A Ribbon were a joy, scoring high on the tweemometor. Despite apologising for the sombre content of some of the songs the band obviously were happy to play live and that showed on their faces. Taking their cue from the likes of Talulah Gosh and Dolly Mixture they played a wonderful and fun jangle pop set. The band are a core of two but expand to a five piece and, in complete contrast to what I have said about Pocketbooks tonight, the songs known to me such as Book Cover and Pebbles sounded all the better for it. Some may find their sound a bit too sugary sweet but I for one was happy to gorge in the candy store!
Headliners tonight are Finlands's Cats On Fire who, for some reason, been compared to the Smiths which is a comparison I cannot hear myself. Maybe it's because of frontman's Mattias Björkas quiff and a tendency to dance like Morrissey when time permits. Cats on Fire are a pop band with a capital P and their music is a fine blend of indie pop with alternative folk roots. Björkas is the star of the show (he knows it) and in the right world his face will be adorning teenage girls bedroom walls. The band are in the UK promoting their début album release The Province Complains and tonight they go down a treat with set comprising style and panache. Highlights are the sets last two songs, both taken from last years excellent Draw In The Reins EP, with Higher Grounds and the self titled track lead track being a treat to anyone's ears.
Cracking stuff!
The last time I saw Pocketbooks they were, putting it politely, a shambles. It's amazing what a smaller venue and a stripped back line up (they became a three piece tonight) can do to a bands sound. Andy's vocals were strong and not lost as they been on previous live appearances. Emma, minus her keyboard, was brimming fall of confidence. This was despite minimal eye contact with the crowd and until tonight I haven't actually taken in what a great voice she has. I am not saying the band should head down to an acoustic sound as per Monkey Swallows The Universe but maybe they should give it some thought as I always envisaged them sounding this way.
Sweden's A Smile And A Ribbon were a joy, scoring high on the tweemometor. Despite apologising for the sombre content of some of the songs the band obviously were happy to play live and that showed on their faces. Taking their cue from the likes of Talulah Gosh and Dolly Mixture they played a wonderful and fun jangle pop set. The band are a core of two but expand to a five piece and, in complete contrast to what I have said about Pocketbooks tonight, the songs known to me such as Book Cover and Pebbles sounded all the better for it. Some may find their sound a bit too sugary sweet but I for one was happy to gorge in the candy store!
Headliners tonight are Finlands's Cats On Fire who, for some reason, been compared to the Smiths which is a comparison I cannot hear myself. Maybe it's because of frontman's Mattias Björkas quiff and a tendency to dance like Morrissey when time permits. Cats on Fire are a pop band with a capital P and their music is a fine blend of indie pop with alternative folk roots. Björkas is the star of the show (he knows it) and in the right world his face will be adorning teenage girls bedroom walls. The band are in the UK promoting their début album release The Province Complains and tonight they go down a treat with set comprising style and panache. Highlights are the sets last two songs, both taken from last years excellent Draw In The Reins EP, with Higher Grounds and the self titled track lead track being a treat to anyone's ears.
Cracking stuff!
Great stuff. Are you into Will Oldham or The National? I've been listening to The National alot lately and Will Oldham is kind of an iconic staple of music for me. What is the legality of posting mp3s on your site? Have you hit any problems? Hit me back.
Thanks Tom! Just to say, some songs from this gig are now on YouTube. Pocketbooks:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMDy0oiR8M8 - Cats on Fire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGst1hloZwg
i have been listening to that new cats on fire record pretty excessively