Thalia Zedek, TheDevastations, Starboard @Spectrum, 05/08/05

Tue 9th Aug, 2005 in Gig Reviews

I was fortunate to arrive early at Spectrum and it was my first time at the venue. The place had a pleasing atmosphere of hospitable gloom and broken glamour. Starboard  were the opening band of the evening. Drummer Nick Kennedy began a steady minimalist metre and the cello of Sophie Glasson and the violin of Jay Kong kicked in on a note that grabbed my concentration. Bandleader Chris Moller fingerpicked peculiar arpeggios over the deep sound and began to sing. Though the sound mix at times rendered his vocals indecipherable, the emotion and passion within the songs pierced through. These were composed songs; they rippled and twisted – always with the group in command of each lull and crescendo.

After the first number they were joined by their barefoot bass-player Michael Huddleson, and the sound took on a dark and muscular shape. All too often, when a band allows themselves sincerity and passion; the result grows stale with earnestness. The music becomes too infatuated with its own sense of portent. This atrophy can lead to either the path of turgid self-obsession or naïve and simplistic stadium-rock. Starboard avoid such pratfalls by commitment to their songs. They take the music seriously, instead of themselves. In between songs they appeared personable and self-deprecating. I realise that this is a world in need of less hyperbole and thoughtless sales pitching; but it must be said that Starboard is a superb and striking band. A band that made me very happy to arrive early.

Next on the bill were The Devastations. A group who capture a tone both sleazy and romantic. Like a stained and dimly lit variation on Phil Spector. Guitarist Tom Carlyon knows well that a guitar is more interesting when wrestled into viciousness rather than stroked to satisfaction. These bursts of elegant noise were given swing and subtlety by Hugo Cran’s agile drumming. Though it is in contrast to this chaos where the band’s real ability lies.

With such songs as the seductive and melancholy waltz Coal. When the band played with delicacy, the vocals of Conrad Standish were most effective. His phrasing and restraint gave the syllables of each line a bitter tenderness.

Thalia Zedek and her accompanists David Michael Curry (viola) and Daniel Coughlin took to the stage in a manner unassuming. As she shouldered her guitar and tuned up, Zedek looked mellow and unimposing. After a subdued greeting, the band launched into Sailor and my perception changed. Quite suddenly I was covered with an enchanting sound. The songs of Thalia Zedek work like good bourbon. At first the taste is too sour – there is too much burn and no alleviating sweetness. But then the body begins to absorb the wondrous liquor and you realise that this is not a drink to be tasted in tiny nips. This is something to pay attention to, revealing warmth and potency with each touch of the glass to your lips. Forming the song with strokes of both control and surrender. The beauty and strength of her voice then hit me right in the stomach.

At that moment the band let loose and for the rest of the set I was captivated. Daniel Coughlin played by throwing himself into the rhythms. No perfunctory metronome, this was musical drumming. Moving from different time signatures, playing that was organic and lithe. Across this flurry danced the viola of David Michael Curry. With alacrity he moved from lyrical counterpoint to drawing forth shrieks and whimpers, then slicing through with a ragged squall.

With the exception of some dry one-liners there was little in-between song banter, instead each song flowed from the stage as if connected to something continuous. From the fragile and heartbreaking 1926 to the chilling Hell is in Hello. This was music afraid of neither rapture nor dirty hands. The music contained tragedy, and through that tragedy the music became heroic. Try as I might to make some attempt at being objective, her songs grabbed me by the belt buckle and hefted me up. Without expecting it, I was charmed. Thalia Zedek and her able players brought the night to a close that was as expansive as it was intimate.