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Gig Review

Smoke Fairies/ Mechanical Bride
London, ULU

Article written by Ged M - Jun 3, 2011

It’s been quite a few months since I last saw Smoke Fairies so I notice not so much a difference as a transformation. Now that they have a band backing them, the fuller sound suits their songs. In ‘Strange Moon Rising’ not only are their guitars resonating eerily in the foreground but the band are creating hazy soundscapes in which haints are almost visibly appearing. They’ve always written a spooky sort of pop but now the viola’s sepulcral drones evoke real tension, in the same way that Bernard Herrmann’s arrangements underline the danger in an Alfred Hitchcock film. Cat and Jess still play a small part of the show as a duo (including ‘Wrecking Ball’) when you marvel at how good they are, but that works better for a few songs only. It’s when the band rejoins them that songs take on a new life (especially the intensely bluesy ‘Gastown’) and you notice how well balanced the vocals sound against a full band. They’re painting the same superb pictures but have been handed a full palette of paint rather than using a couple of colour blocks. Everything about them is more animated now; the dry ice and modest light show works well with the band set up and even the quality of banter is so much more assured, from tales of a cat on wheels to an excellent rejoinder about the impending apocalypse as predicted by some US wacko. All that touring has turned them into a real rock show, their past diffidence replaced by a stunning new confidence, which translates into a very impressive evening.

Mechanical Bride are technically really impressive. All the instrument swapping means that the focus shifts between instruments and players, although much of the melancholy feel in Lauren Doss’s eerie folk-pop songs is conveyed by Marques Tolliver’s violin. In fact it’s the singer/violinist’s performance that draws the most attention. He’s appeared on Jools Holland and his rising star status is clear from his performance. That certainly makes the set memorable, more than the rather fragile songs that create mournful moods that disappear like will-o’-the-wisps.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/mechanicalbride
http://www.smokefairies.com/