Music PREVIEWS
GARAGE ROCK VIVIAN GIRLS Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, 18 Jul
‘It kinda bums me out if a reviewer compares us to anything twee or C86,’ explains Cassie Ramone, frontwoman of Vivian Girls, taking a break from her laundry at home in Brooklyn to talk to The List. ‘Bands like that really weren’t an influence on us at all. That whole sound evokes a light-heartedness, or a naivété, which is really not us. We are weathered women.’ The ‘weathered women’ making up Vivian Girls’ current psych-pop trio (previous members Ali Koehler and Frankie Rose left to join Best Coast and go solo, respectively) are Katy Goodman (pictured, right), aka solo songstress La Sera, and Fiona Campbell (pictured, left) – one half of the duo Coasting. But probably best to side-step comparisons between their projects, and Ramone’s own side-project, The Babies, with Kevin Morby from Woods. (That bums Ramone out too.)
Instead, the title of recent LP Share the Joy
(Polyvinyl), is how Ramone sees their music; not defiantly cheerful, or what would Ramone calls ‘crazy- person happy’ (although their skuzzy girl-group harmonies do make for some undeniably swoonsome and well-crafted pop); it’s named after a Burt Bacharach track.
‘I’d imagined it would be a really happy, upbeat song, but it’s not. It’s a really sad, haunting song. I guess I’d hope our music would also be a cathartic experience for the listener, I can’t really say we’re trying to achieve anything though. We’re just trying to do what we do – without abandoning our punk roots.’ (Claire Sawers) ■ For a longer version of this interview, see list.co.uk.
ALT-FOLK FLEET FOXES Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Wed 29 Jun AVANT-DISCO ALL-DAYER A MIDSUMMER DAY’S DREAM Tramway, Glasgow, Sat 25 Jun
Facial hair and flannel shirts haven’t been so de rigueur since at least, ooh, 2008, when Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver both made their arrivals, enshrining not just American alt-folk as one of the genres of the moment but also the unlikely popularisation of the lumberjack look. Both artists have resurfaced in 2011, the former with their second album Helplessness Blues – a lush, expansive and gorgeous set that has got the mainstream swaying to their bucolic rootsiness and family-tight vocal harmonies. Recipient of many glowing reviews, Helplessness Blues even looked an outside
bet to break Adele’s chart stranglehold on both sides of the Atlantic; it ultimately peaked at number three in the UK and four in the US, but still – not a bad achievement for a band who funded their self-titled debut album with maxed-out credit cards. One area where Fleet Foxes are winning new fans isn’t difficult to deduce – reference points from CSN&Y to Roy Harper and Pentangle have made them the new darlings of the heritage rock press; they’re quite possibly your dad’s new favourite band, but don’t let that put you off.
Fleet Foxes’ steep ascent has been matched by a step-up in their live show – quite literally in the case of frontman Robin Pecknold, who has gladly ditched his contrarily un-rock’n’roll habit of sitting on a chair on stage. We’re not talking scissor-kicks and pyrotechnics here – moderate-to-firm tambourine bashing and some dual flute action might be as wild as things get. But whoever said the revolution can’t be gentle? (Malcolm Jack)
‘None of us went on to do anything remotely industrial,’ pointed out Chris Carter in a recent interview. ‘We’d burned ourselves out of it and we didn’t want it to sound like [Throbbing Gristle].’ The truth of that statement will be evident at this second round of the Tramway’s annual all-day experimental music event in association with Optimo. Fresh from a decade-in-the-waiting reunion show at London’s ICA earlier this
year (in as much as a group can be reunited when their members have lived together since the 80s) and the ultimate dissolution of seminal industrial outfit Throbbing Gristle following the death of fellow founder Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson, Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti (pictured) will showcase the music which placed them among the most important, if in their case widely unheralded, artists in the evolution of electronic sound. Billed here as Carter Tutti Performing as Chris & Cosey, the pair’s ICA show featured almost all of the Exotika album and their most recognisable track ‘October (Love Song)’: hopefully this set finds room for the Eurythmics-featuring ‘Sweet Surprise’ from Optimo’s Sleepwalk mix. Split into separate day and evening events, the later part of the programme will feature a performance by Arthur’s Landing, the music of the late avant-garde classical/disco composer Arthur Russell as played by a group of his friends. In the afternoon, expect live performances from Glasgow’s Uncle John & Whitelock descendants Tut Vu Vu, New York sound artist Tristan Perich, Californian experimental outfit Lucky Dragons and London band Rhosyn. (David Pollock)
78 THE LIST 23 Jun–21 Jul 2011