[Los Angeles (used to be Portland)]
Entranced – I was entranced. I don’t know how I came to know this band but my
awareness was cemented by their song, “Love in the Dark,” which uses deadpan
synth pop to mix up small town and S&M references. And then… my female
friends in Gunnison were 25 or 75 – and the ladies on the latter end of life
culturally schooled me as much as the younger ones, as Gunnison people will do.
For instance, OffTheGrid, a lady of exceeding grace & intelligence, raised
her children off-the-grid in Telluride and now splits her time between Gunnison
and Portland. Her daughter, it turns out, was the ex-girlfriend of the founder
of Yacht. The point is, with all the Gunnison, Portland, person crossing,
seeing Yacht became essential. They were, on first glance, two Flock of Seagull
guys behind podiums with upside down happy faces on them. And then a beacon of
female showmanship with minimalist white hair and a voluminous blouse, bare
midriff. Deep dramatic voice – reminds me of someone I can’t place – Annie
Lennox but something more too. The guys were sometimes on keyboard, sometimes
on electric guitars. The woman controlled the stage and the audience with grand
hand gestures, controlled dancing, eccentric singing. They’ve transitioned from
Portland to LA and are described as constantly evolving art pop, but their
music was, fortunately, more listenable than I feared: 80s synth pop, 90s
techno, 00s hard electronica. A super light show too (as in epilepsy-inducing
lights). Sometimes they did little ‘what has technology done to our lives’
skits. Moreover, they were exceedingly modern and inventive but still warm and
unpretentious – traits that seem to be Portland staples. After they finished a
song about ‘wanting to fuck you until I die,’ the woman joked with the audience
something to the effect “I’m delighted to tell you my parents are in the
audience tonight.” But she could go from that to crowd control based on a cross
of domintrix crossed with 60s dinner party hostess. In one glaring mis-step,
she was lip-syncing and got worse at it as the show went on. Why? I forgive
her. Flame told me later he hated them - he's a crazy man!
Comments
Post a Comment