MUSIC

The Cube, Bristol (Fri 17 Feb)

If the idea of a boy/girl duo-themed night makes you feel a little queasy, you’re not alone. Thankfully, if there’s one place that’s going to do it right, whose DJs will choose The Fiery Furnaces over The Ting Tings and who will ensure a bottle of wine is not requisite for enjoyment, it’s The Cube. Of course, an acoustic guitar and cutesy harmonies do not a bad night make, it’s just that their absence does well to quieten one’s inner cynic when the odds are stacked in its favour.

First up are Bristol’s Hesomagari, a duo of SJ Esau and Zun Zun Egui’s Yoshino Shigihara. It's an exercise in balance – her chants versus his soft delivery, cymbals versus electronic drum loops, the frantic versus the mundane – the execution can be disappointingly askew at times, but the struggle makes for interesting listening. Then it's quite a jump to Bath's The Hysterical Injury, for whom the term 'gritty bass and drums duo' is probably getting a little old. They'd benefit greatly were this a standing gig, but if anyone told them this, they're not letting it show. Annie Gardiner head-bangs the scrunchie out of her hair (not a metaphor) and her brother Tom brings to mind Hella's Zach Hill, and not just because his arms are blurred by speed into skin-coloured smudges for the duration of the set. Their music is nothing if not persistent, which is admirable, though the bass tones can get a little too 'pop does metal' after a while, making that persistence a little grating.

Though they've been a band for almost six years, it's the first time LA's High Places (formerly Brooklyn's High Places) have played in Bristol. They take the bizarre and make it not only listenable but familiar and tranquil, subduing with outlandish percussive noises, making the sporadic feel cyclic. Whilst Rob Barber enthusiastically rocks back and forth, arms flailing as he hits drum pads, Mary Pearson's voice and stage presence are the antithesis. Pearson is still and demure; her voice melts into rather than jumps out of the music. But the lack of active attention-seeking does not make them any less worthy of that attention. Endearing is probably too plain a concept when there's so much darkness implied in her delivery and her character. Perhaps it's best demonstrated on 'The Pull', as she sings “I would give to you/Wrap it up nice and tight for you” over elongated, crystalline tings. Though on paper sentimental, her fragility makes it sound as though she has yielded under duress. It takes faultless tone to inject so much bleakness into such certain phrases, but High Places are experts in synergy. (Leah Pritchard)

Copyright Leah Pritchard 2012