Blonde Redhead, AmayaLaycirica @ Billboard,Melbourne (07/02/2010)

Thu 10th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Solo artist Amaya Laycirica and her backing band Dwell offered up soft dream-pop support that was more pleasant than enlightening. Like Ivy, Laycirica plays with the dreamlike ramblings of a Sunday morning, espousing gentle rhythmic guitar patterns. While no worlds were being set on fire, you can tell that the audience showed a general appreciation of the act, if not as strongly as might have been had the sound mix been better. A violin is lost altogether in the mix and what can be heard of Laycirica’s vocals reveal a less dynamic blend of Hope Sandoval and Juanita Stein of the Howling Bells. When the violinist picks up a guitar as well as Laycirica, the mix is at its worst and is completely muddied. It’s a shame because while I doubt the act would have blown Billboard away, a good mix would have gone a long way.

The stage is covered phosphorescent lights and photographic reflector boards which imitate the flickering quality of fireflies. The audience must have at least tripled in size since the closing of the support and responds with shuttered awe to the transient moods of Blonde Redhead. Black Guitar introduces one of the highpoints of new album Penny Sparkle. A duet between the dulcet French tones of Amedeo Pace and the high ethereal quality of Japanese singer Kazu Makino strung out over the a synth backing and Amedeo’s lilting guitar work provides a dark, sombre moment.

Here Sometimes espouses the feeling of the majority of work on Penny Sparkle and perhaps the reason it has been received so poorly by critics. It’s a more upbeat, heavily synth-driven track, which, along with Makino’s vocals, means it is eerily similar to the work of Little Dragon. Not that this is a bad thing; it just loses something of the immediacy and emotional impact of the previous work, probably because it relies so heavily on the very artificial synth tones.

The majority of the set is made up of tracks from the last two albums Penny Sparkle and what I consider to be the bands masterpiece, 23. Dr. Strangeluv encapsulates the shift between the two albums and mainly what is missing from the newer material,; an organic quality drawn from the repetition of simple guitar lines and intricate drum work by third member Simone Pace. Spring And By Summer Fall holds echoes of a more melodic Sonic Youth, with Kazu taking to the Bass and foregoing her normal hair whips while Amedeo amps up the guitar and vocal work.

Other tracks include the dark electro of Oslo, Will There Be Stars and Not Getting There, while the strange twisted circus ground sounds of In Particular prove an unusual joy. The set closes on a dour note with new album title track Penny Sparkle, before the band return for a three song encore including the grungy Melody Of Certain Three the melancholy Spain and concluding with the sublime 23. Blonde Redhead return to the stage shortly for a second encore which opens with the screeching short jam of Mother before finally closing with a piece centred on the dynamic bass work of Amedeo.