Sunday, September 9

Review: Ipso Facto at Beyond Retro

I'd never attended a gig in a vintage clothes shop before, but if any band could pull it off, it'd be Ipso Facto. Their black and white 1960s-style attire made them look right at home in Beyond Retro, off Brick Lane in east London, where the band played on a warm Saturday afternoon to a small but loyal crowd.

Starting with a nice ethereal performance of new track 'Balderdash', punctuated by 'oooh's from vocalist Rosalie Cunningham, the band launched into a great set of mysterious-sounding psychedelic rock. It was amazing how much musical talent the organisers managed to fit between a rack of dresses and a sideboard covered in bric-a-brac.

While Ipso Facto's recorded tracks sound a bit like a children's music box, the prominent and skilful basslines from Samantha Valentine gave their live performance a more threatening, dark sound, especially on a new bluesy track entitled 'Girl', and the penultimate song, which was slightly reminiscent of Theoretical Girl. 'Little Puppet' brought the performance to a close with a piano performance from Cherish Kaya that managed to be restrained and deranged at the same time. Other highlights included a perfectly-intoned 'Harmonise', and a performance of 'Five Golden Stars' with some very skilful drum fills from Victoria Smith.

Speaking to the band after the show, I was surprised to hear that they thought they had performed badly. They blamed this mainly on the equipment. Personally, if Ipso Facto are this good with bad amps, I can't wait to see them again with good ones.

1 comment:

Chris Etches said...

nice review there, and a lovely right up about the POST JUNK scene too. You planning on coming to the Secret EXP CIRCLE party next Saturday in East London?

chris error x