School of Seven Bells, TheCorner Hotel, Melbourne(25/04/09)

Tue 28th Apr, 2009 in Gig Reviews

A message to all the members of Sherlock’s Daughter and School of Seven Bells; please call me, anytime, anywhere. I think am in love with you.

It’s not just that you’re all really pretty. You are, and I’m sure you know you are. It’s your music. I’m not being a creep, well maybe I am just a tiny bit, but I’ve fallen head over heels for your music. I think I want to get down on one knee and pop a big fat ring on its finger, marry it and take it on honeymoon in Fiji. I contacted your PR people but they didn’t seem to think it was such a great idea, but really, don’t hesitate to call, I’ll be waiting by the phone.

Back to business, and as you can probably tell I very much enjoyed myself on Saturday night. In the wake of their much talked about debut Alpinisms the indie scenesters were out in droves to see the newest of New York’s buzz bands and I’m sure the blogs will be a whirring after School of Seven Bell’s scintillating performance.

They were ably supported by Sydney five-piece Sherlock’s Daughter, who entertained with their eclectic mix of pop, rock and electro. The musical influences on their Myspace page cover the entire musical spectrum from Iron and Wine to Kraftwerk to John Cage and this is reflected in their live show. Kicking off with a euphoric single chord jam in the vein of Sterolab, it was an absolute belter, all kick drums and downstrums. There music explored an interesting dynamic between metronomic instrumental sections, replete with 8-Bit synths and ambient atmospherics, and low key, shouted vocal parts from every member of the band, making great use of non-musical instruments, like sandpaper and a block of wood. At its molten centre is Regina Spektor sing-a-like frontwoman Tanya whose clear voice and infectious energy cuts through the noise like a musical knife. By the end of their whirlwind set three things (besides Tanya’s lovely face) were stuck in my mind. Their music is very fast, very fun and very good.

The stage was now set for some creamy dream pop, and what a lovely dream it proved to be. Every song by devastatingly elegant sisters Deheza, that is Alejandra and Claudia and guitarist extraordinaire Benjamin Curtis was an absolute triumph.

School of Seven Bells have been lazily labelled a ‘shoegaze’ band and at times it’s easy to see why. The hazy walls of feedback, and pitch perfect glacial harmonies in tracks like Face to Face on High Places and Chain_ owe much to the obvious touchstones of the genre, from My Bloody Valentine and Ride to The Cocteau Twins, but this band is so much more.

Replacing vocal and lyrical obscurity with poetic insight, School of Seven Bells uses the elements of shoegaze as a structural framework to create pristine slices of pop perfection. There is a magical, mysterious aura to their music; on Half Asleep the sisters sing, in spiralling, helix-shaped harmonies of ‘unguarded trains of thought’ and ‘the slumber of disconnection’ over hazy atmospherics and crackly recorded beats.

It paved the way for the overt Oriental mysticism of My Cabal and Connjur. Both tracks, though differing in sonic texture have this incantory, mind expanding quality, thanks to their monosyllabic, obviously Eastern melodic construction. It’s music you can lose yourself in, and by the end of their set it was like waking up from an amazing, intangible dream. I was pinching myself for days afterwards, and fuck, you can’t really ask more from music can you?

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE