James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
On Tuesday night Chorus of Arrows - the two songwriters Nina Violet and Colin Ruel, together with drummer Sam Mason (oh you’re Willy’s brother?) and bassist Matthew Cullen - filled Basement Bar with little bit of each singer and wonderful glimpses of all four members playing together.
Not so much a band as a set of ideas, Chorus of Arrows swerved between wailing ballads from Violet to marching folk led by Ruel. The corresponding frontpeople even politely left the stage for one another’s solos.
Violet’s raw and solitary vocals conjoured up the requisite images of smoky American diners in lung-blasting belters. The Massachusetts girl displayed a much deeper and more interesting voice than most of your classic seventies female folksters - making even Joni Mitchell seem angelic.
A quick listen to some of the studio tracks (studio = Willy Mason’s basement) reveals moments of startling voice control in the emerging Violet. Despite not in the zone all night, there were enough hair-raising moments of true folk wailing to demand at least a pint from Neil Young. Sadly though, lyrics like “you’re my favourite illusion” were often lost in poor, noisy sound quality. As if to mirror the acoustics, Violet herself was not in the centre spot on stage, giving in to the towering Ruel and leaving all of us confused.
Ruel himself, over six foot and wearing girls’ red trousers, morphed into whatever the song wanted of him. At times backing songs with alien, high-pitch guitar tones and then after an all-consuming pause during “Bruise”, he even pulled out a Lynyrd Skynyrd style solo. A snapped guitar string resulted in him trying to play and restring a guitar at the same time.
Forget Elliott Smith or Devendra Banhart – this song was indie folk with attitude.
Despite the pair’s musical brilliance you couldn’t help feeling that for lots of the set they were both borrowing from somebody else’s musical past. But when Chorus of Arrows actually played as a band, something special happened. For “Can’t Carry The Weight” they gave up on the folk ballads with spectacular brilliance and stunned everyone by giving birth before our eyes to a marching, folk-indie fusion. Forget Elliott Smith or Devendra Banhart – this song was indie folk with attitude.
Don’t expect this band to be pushing Leona Lewis off the charts, (we've got aspiring pornstar Basshunter for that... Ed.) but if they continue this miracle of birth, then the sweaty teenagers in City Screen will soon become a huge throng of cult followers.
You are way too harsh on Nina Violet's ballads Daniel Ashby.
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report