Yesterday, I ventured into town, to catch some Brighton Festival magic and to watch Amongst the Pigeons mixing up his own unique blend of sounds and beats, on a stage outside the library. I got more than I bargained for. Amongst the Pigeons not only got the toddlers dancing, he got me a Great Escape wristband. Yeah, baby. I could barely contain my excitement. To top that, the evening was even better than expected. It was IMMENSE.
I watched Hanna at the Odeon, announced ‘That was Ace!’, compared it to the film Species, and within minutes my Great Escape began. The Coalition is just a few minutes from the seafront cinema, and at The Coalition I saw K.Flay (Kristine Flaherty to her ex-teachers) and Foster the People.
K.Flay, Brighton Coalition, 14th May 2011
Is she too weak to be strong for you? Probably not. Forget the nervous breakdowns Flay. I’ve rarely seen a set so tight.
I knew nothing about K.Flay before seeing her at the Coalition. I came out of the loo, and there she was. Before long, I looked about the room. I wanted to make sure my ‘wow face’ was duplicated in other facial forms. It was.
K.Flay chops up and samples tunes, driving the beats and melody with force. Overlaying these, with a gentle tone, she issues rapidly delivered and deliciously crafted sentences. A melodic chorus splices in, to calm the moment, while the verses are trepanned through your skull, and at the end of air, a word becomes a yelp: like a bullet in the head.
K.Flay may have chopped up The Decemberists, to the delight of the indie rockers, but the stand out track was CRAZYtown. K.Flay is now on my radar. I keep hitting ‘download’ on her website.
Foster the People, Brighton Coalition, 14th May 2011
Last year, I was introduced to Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks. It’s an absolutely superb track. I checked out more of their songs on the internet. Only Last FM provided at that time. My conclusion was that Foster the People had some way to go to come close to matching Pumped Up Kicks. A friend of mine continued to drool over every track.
I took the opportunity to see Foster the People with relish. They have been compared to MGMT, Vampire Weekend and Passion Pit. Opinion is best based on direct experience, and I like a bit of that.
The first track was Helena Beat, and the beat was surprising fierce. The extra drum, besides the main kit, got a proper smashing. Mark Fosters' falsetto wove in and out. I got the MGMT referencing, but - for me - it lacked the psychedelic grit to break the armour of my heart.
The second track was Miss You. The Vampire Weekend comparisons began to make sense. It’s like a dirty Vampire Weekend that hates all things sugary. At this point, I started to wonder why I don’t like this band as much as I should. Is it that I find the style pretentious, like a falsetto Beck, with 80s rock-dance gusto to boot?
Houdini bounded in: rock-dance drive full throttle. ‘Sometimes I want to disappear’, Foster revealed. I visualised high waxed hair, tight shiny trousers, 90s slacker rap and a tab of acid jazz. A million of middle class dwellings will no doubt pipe Foster the People through their surround sound speakers. I realised why Foster the People and me don’t work. While I can sum it up with one word: Jamiroquai.
I couldn’t fault the beat in Houdini. It caused the drum kit to collapse, and for the rest of the set, two men had a place on either side of the bass drum holding it in place.
While I enjoyed the gig, for t’was a good show, Hustling and Call it What You Want went on to confirm that Foster the People probably aren’t the band for me. When vocal style grates, what can you do?
Pumped Up Kicks was brilliant. I loved it. I then left during their final number. I had a queue to join. More about that tomorrow...
Fabpants Recommends:
Download MP3: K.Flay - CRAZYtown (courtesy of myindienation.com)
Download MP3: K.Flay – 2 Weak (courtesy of theswollenfox.com)
Download MP3: Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks (laisthenewny.com)
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