Thursday, 9 November 2023

My Life In The Bush Of Chickens

It's time for another one of my irregular series of searingly insight-free gig reviews. A summary for those of you who can't be bothered to read the whole thing: I saw some bands. I liked them.

Last Friday we were in New Cross to see the mighty Bush Tetras. They have been performing on and off since 1980 when they released the classic "Too Many Creeps" EP. They are currently touring to support their first album in ten years, "They Live In My Head", which came out a few months ago. 

The new album is pretty good but sounds positively weedy compared to their live show. They are a great live act and I would strongly encourage you to go and see them if you get the chance.

They have recruited a top quality rhythm section for the current tour (and possibly beyond) - Steve Shelley (ex Sonic Youth) on drums and a surprisingly funky Cait O'Riordan (ex Pogues) on bass. As good as they were the stars of the show were the two mainstays of the band, singer Cynthia Sley and especially Pat Place on guitar. She's phenomenal.

On Monday we headed up to the Moth Club in Hackney for a change of scene and sound, where we sampled the funky samba-scented stylings of Ana Frango Elétrico (Ana the Electric Chicken as Portuguese-speaking readers will know). 

She was also promoting a new album, "Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua", which came out three weeks ago. According to one of the more pretentious reviews I read it is "an interior offering, full of diaristic observations and raw, personal truths, unfurling the layers to Ana’s ever-evolving identity". Not just that, but it also "invokes the core conventions of Brazilian boogie music, filtering it through a prism of a retro-futurist, wide-ranging pop".

I don't know about all that, but she makes a fine sound and delighted the enthusiastic sell-out crowd at what she said was her first London gig. We didn't have the best of views so can't really comment on her stagecraft, but I enjoyed the music a great deal and will go again if she comes back this way.

Here is an oldie but goodie from each of them, followed by some newies but goodies in the videos (and as a bonus Bush Tetras and a special guest performing 'the hit' last Friday)..

"Das Ah Riot" - Bush Tetras

"Tem Certeza?" - Ana Frango Elétrico 


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9 comments:

  1. George9 November 2023 at 08:54

    Will I be alone in your readers of not finding Ana of The Chickens blithely referential in its embrace of pop culture?

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    Replies
    1. George9 November 2023 at 08:57

      I asked my partner if she found it blithely referential....etc "No, I found it a bit annoying" (as we listened to track Electric Fish

      Delete
    2. Ernie Goggins9 November 2023 at 09:06

      The pair of you are clearly not among the star-gazers and earth dwellers drifting from place to place seeking company and collaboration who are the target audience for the Brazilian wunderkind.

      Delete
  2. Charity Chic9 November 2023 at 09:08

    No recording of you on stage?

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    Replies
    1. Ernie Goggins9 November 2023 at 11:02

      No, but Mister F is briefly visible at one point when the camera pans left (shortish, wearing a Breton cap sort of thing)

      Delete
    2. George9 November 2023 at 16:22

      So that's not you in the white sweat-short dancing onstage????????????

      Delete
  3. C10 November 2023 at 17:25

    Ah, that special guest on stage with the Bush Tetras is an inspiration.

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  4. Khayem11 November 2023 at 06:53

    Superb all round. And kudos for the Bush Tetras "special guest" lasting 3 minutes on stage. I would have had an inadvertent trip and stumble into the drum riser or clumsily brought Cynthia or Cait crashing down with me in under a minute. And that's fully sober.

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  5. Rol11 November 2023 at 20:33

    Don't think I've heard of The Bush Tetras before, but Bird On A Wire convinced me to add them to a list.

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