Acid Tongue, The Baby Seals, Bansheeva, The Black Goats and Pete
Um
Psych Fem at The Blue Moon, December 1st 2016, Review by Della Richardson
Last Thursday nights Psych Fem event at the Blue Moon in Cambridge
had a vast variety of performances from Pete Um, The Black Goats,
Bansheeva and The Baby Seals to the headlining act Acid Tongue.
The night starts off running a little late and Pete Ums electronic
set of creative short songs forces a confused yet intrigued atmosphere
into the room as people start to listen. After the bright light and
White Sunglasses are added, pace picks up and looking over at the
stage of fairy lights and a black starry backdrop you can see Pete,
headphones on and mic held close to his mouth, his voice pushing hard
through the hypnotic beat with his husky musing style. The backing
could be described as similar to a robot in pain, but this uncomfortably
all knits perfectly together in a style that may not be fully understood
by Cambridge students at the back of the room, or by me in fact. However,
it is appreciated for its uniqueness adding to the nights events.
Next come The Black Goats with their Primal Scream and Kasabian-esque
style, guitars, synth and bodies all in sync with each other, bringing
people up more towards the stage and increasing the tempo and the
atmosphere along with it. They set the stage for Bansheeva, who heightened
the atmosphere further with their chaotic mix of Psychedelic Rock
and heavy beats showing off their musical talents. Bansheeva is a
band that is clearly matured in live performance knowing when to slow
things down and speed them up keeping it so loud that you feel the
beat pulsating in your heart the whole time. The highlight of their
short set, was by far, near the end when the drummer playing so fast
he could have been The Flashes distant cousin. It was awesome.
The Baby Seals opened their set with the song My Labias
Lopsided (But I Dont Mind) and immediately changed the
tone of the room, those who had been chilling at the back came forward
to watch and those already at the front started to dance. Their feminist
inspired songs are somewhat empowering to a Teenage girl like myself;
Nipple hair, a track from of their EP Lips Are Sealed,
preaches that women actually have body hair, a fact I think some have
forgotten. The female trios set consisted of an Indie Rock,
Pop vibe with a strong message of women not giving a damn and enjoying
themselves. They ended with their song Its not about the
Money, Honey leaving a lasting impression on lead singer of
Acid Tongue, Guy Keltner, as he started his set by talking of how
singing about body hair is so sexy.
Guy Keltner, writer, producer and lead vocalist of Acid tongue, the
headliner of the night's gig, was accompanied by his British compadres,
Allessio on Bass and George on drums. Suspense built as the band set
up. Many had come specifically for the group's USA based Guy who is
on Tour in the UK. They opened with their first EPs leading
song I Died Dreaming the psychedelia and blues undertones
of the guitar and Guys alternative, soul rich voice cutting
through any doubt that the wait for the band would certainly be worth
it. The sound quality on every reverbed note of the guitar, caress
of the drum, Bass riff from Allessio, perfectly spearheaded by Guys
vocals as they continued with a song from their sophomore EP Beautiful
Disaster. Around the middle of the set the band played a Motown
cover of My Girl by The Temptations, the arrangement meant
the song in Guys hypnotic vocals was almost unrecognisable to
start with putting an Acid infused twist on a classic. Taking a more
relaxed tone to the set Guy starts Funny Little Colours
just him and his guitar showing off the low richer vibe of his vocals
until Allessio and George kick in, their stage presence heightening
as they get into the song. This song sets the band up for the rest
of the set as they continue to head bang and throw their guitars around
while Allessio occasionally falls into the drums setting them up perfectly
for their final song, Beautiful Disaster, ending the set
by wrecking the stage. However this is not all before apologising
and promising to clear up in advance and chanting coupon queen before
getting the singers of the baby seals to chant along too. Acid tongue
were a faultless end to the night and I can highly recommended, to
all, to go and see them if ever you get the chance.
http://www.acidtonguemusic.com/
https://soundcloud.com/thebabyseals
https://www.facebook.com/BansheeVa/
https://peteum.bandcamp.com/
I managed to get an interview with Guy, Allessio and George before
their set in a Jamaican food restaurant
Jamaican food with Acid Tongue
In the Jamaican Cuisine restaurant across the road from the blue moon
I managed to get a half hour interview with Lead vocalist and song
writer of Acid Tongue, Guy Keltner, with his UK tour band members
Allessio and George.
Me: I know you said when we spoke before you were
a collective.
Guy; yeah thats probably the best way to put it I record and
write everything myself, I record with a lot of different musicians
and I mean I probably have 15+ people Im working with right
now.
Me; So are you two staying for the whole of England tour? (Referring
to Allessio and George)
Guy: yeah they're doing England with me right now then Im going
back to the States and Ive got two other guys Im gonna
go down the coast with. I wanted to bring him with me (pointing to
Allessio) but it kind of overlaps with his Christmas plans to go back
home.
Me; Where are you all from?
Guy; Im from Seattle but I have a bunch of family in LA its
where I grew up a little bit, Im gonna head down there. Im
going to go to Seattle because we have a festival there every year
so I ma bunk down the coast. Allessio is from Italy and George
from London.
Me; whats the festival called?
Guy; The Freak Out, my label back home is called Freak Out records
we actually named it after the festival though weve been doing
the Freak Out for about four years. Its really fun, its
small and cold out there every year.
Me; How old are you? How old when you first started playing music?
Guy; Im 28, I started playing when I was around 12. I got a
guitar when I was about 10. I got OK into it and then my parents got
me a good teacher. We played like soul music and R'n'B and reggae
and he taught me how to play how I do now.
Me; Would you say he was a big influence then?
Guy; oh yeah massive, I still see that guy whenever I can he moved
out of Seattle recently he sold his house and retired. Weird he had
his high school girl friend, they didnt see each other for like
40 years and then randomly at like yoga or something like that they
met and rekindled their love and they live together now. So he taught
me all the stuff I know now, and I started touring when I was probably
in high school even gigging and stuff.
Me; What was it like growing up for you?
Guy; I had a lot of weird freedoms growing up, like a lot of random
shit. Like my parents were weird about alcohol, sex anything like
that you cant do all that, but then their like you wanna
go out with your band go tour, sure. And its like you
know Im gonna go drink and have sex right (all laughing).
Guy; so who are you writing for?
Me; Repeat fanzine, this is like my first proper interview
Guy; Cool thats badass, keep doing it!
Me; I think when we spoke before you said about Radiohead
always being on your phone, what else have you been listening to while
touring?
Guy; ooh lets see, (gets phone out) so Ive been listening
to a lot of A Tribe Called Quest, it's way before your
time, you weren't even born, they broke up before you were born!
Allessio; You were born in 2001 thats so awesome, you're like
from the future.
Guy; Do you know the Black Angels, Black Sabbath, Elliot Smith, The
Growlers? I listen to a lot of classical music as well like Beethoven
I like jazz music too, Ive been listening to Cindy Mcshay a
lot. Classical music helps me sleep like I travel a lot so on planes
I listen to Mozart, its relaxing to me.
Me; So where do you think youre going to go in the future,
style wise?
Guy; Electronic, Poppier I wanna get paid baby!
(All laughing)
Guy; Im getting better at keyboards, Im getting better
at doing everything in the studio so, Im not a great drummer
or anything so I like to program them in I like to play keys. Trying
to do as much shit myself as I can without any body involved n if
I have a good producer it ties it all together.
Me; You have said you were doing the festival, have you got another
tour planned or anything?
Guy; well this years been busy like busy enough with recording
and playing. This is the year Im building up to recording and
playing, like I would say this is a pretty important year for the
next couple of years. Everything has more magnitude compared to when
I was younger I used to just make records and put them out I didnt
give a shit, like drop a record, tour, promote it yourself. But now
I have a team I have people I have to run shit by, the fact this pays
my rent now changes everything especially with travelling a lot.
Me; Where has been the best place youve travelled in England?
Guy, Allessio and George; Hull.
We thank Acid Tongue for their time and being so friendly and welcoming.
You can hear their music on Spotify and YouTube and buy their EPs
I died dreaming and Beautiful disaster online, in cassette form and
the second EP out now in CD format from the 16th of December. Special
thanks to my buddy Naomi for support and capturing the evening on
film x