Review: Gully, Winterpills, and Ladybug Transistor at SPACE

It's been awhile since I've done a concert review or for that, anything, so lets get this engine going again with a show I saw last Friday at SPACE Gallery in Portland.

The opening act was Gully, a local 90's lo-fi revival band. Fans of Pavement and Guided by Voices would find a liking to these guys. Working on a new album, they played all new songs, none to be found from their Six Songs EP. The new songs they played seemed to be a step-up in maturity from Six Songs, and that should serve as a compliment because their first EP is all-around great. Guitars were layered to create a nice texture of sound, and the drummer's and singer's unique touches added to the overall rustic timbre of the band. One of the keyboards didn't work for one of their last songs so I was disappointed to not hear that in the mix.

Read about Winterpills and Ladybug Transistor after the cut...

Winterpills were on next. They're a indie pop-folk band from Northampton, and they reminded me greatly of Swedish pop-folk band Loney, Dear, whom I saw open for Of Montreal in March 2007. The band offered great contrasts between soft beginnings of singing and piano and a more rock sound with electric guitar and full drum set. The singing dynamics between the Phillip Price and Flora Reed were light, peaceful and a bit sad; on some songs they sang together, other times alternating. "Hide Me" was a great demonstration of the duo's singing; during the chorus Phillip would softly sing "Oh hide me" and then Flora would join in for the rest of the measure, empowering the scared, soft voice to rise up. In "Beesting", a song from their upcoming album, there were a few times Phillip would sing falsetto into a second mic with reverb cranked all the way up. The result was a beautiful, ghostly cry that sounded similar to the song of a whale. The mix between piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and drums with the two vocalists on top were very well done. Winterpills didn't play soft and loud songs; they played songs with great balance and contrast, only using certain sounds and volumes when necessary.

The Ladybug Transistor was quite a change from the two other bands from the night. Immediately noticeable was the way the band presented themselves: very laid back and fun-loving, swooning back and forth to the music. Out of the two Elephant Six bands I know well, Of Montreal and The Apples in Stereo, it seems like there's a mission to have an energetic yet chill stage appearance.

This is one of the few bands I know that makes use of the trumpet on all of their songs. I was trying to nail down what exact genre these guys would fit into, and I narrowed it down to 60's/70's neo-lounge-disco with indie pop glossed over it. The lead singer's low-register, yet melodic voice bared similarities with Cake's John McCrea minus all of the strange syncopation that the singer is known for. A lot of the music had a majestic feel to it, as if the band was playing for an important political figure or someone of royalty.

All three bands were very entertaining and had their own slice of genre to serve to the audience. I enjoyed Winterpills out of the three and I plan on purchasing an album soon.