Lucid 3 ~ Fluid/Doom Pony
(written: 28 April 2004)
Most homegrown bands I fall in love with after seeing them live. And very often I see them live without really knowing who they were or what they sounded like. The Phoenix Foundation, The Accelerants, Betchadupa, HLAH, Fur Patrol, Pluto, Goodshirt... the list goes on. Every so often though, I'll be lucky enough to hear a song and think it was fucking gorgeous and then be totally thrilled that the band in question were kiwis.
With live shows in the 0h-4 few and far between, I had to spend up large to hear these guys well before I could test if they cut it live, or even if their music lived up to the expectations of singles 1 and 2.
Ladies and gentlemen, few bands have stopped me in my tracks like these guys. I was innocently watching Juice and the beginning of a video caught my attention.
"HEHEH! That kick drum thingee looks like a marshmallow!... Mmmm. Marshmallow..."
But, the tastiness of the drums aside, my head was nodding along and the sexy slithering lady snake bass line crept up my skirt like that naughty porno vine. Ok, I wasn't wearing a skirt and... what naughty porno vine? Hehehhehehe.. hehehhehe. Cough. Uh, anyway...
There she was. The majestic Victoria Girling-Butcher. From behind her sleepy smile came the most gorgeous and perfect and angelic voice I'd ever heard.
Who was this band? Where did they come from? Would I ever see the video again to find out? Sure enough it came on, time and time again and I was hooked. I recorded the video to play over and over, unsure of if they had anything out. The handy NZ ON AIR logo gave away their country of origin, so it wouldn't have surprised me if they had a big fat nothing out.
A few months later another video appeared. It reminded me of the Tea Party. Go figure. It had the same sleepy sexy vibe and damnit, I'd find this band if it killed me. Luckily the TV presenter who introduced the video also mentioned an ep. AN EP! One afternoon after Uni I did a search and found it. Six songs for 26 dollars. Half an album for full price. Oy. They'd better be fucking worth it.
On the train home I couldn't stop smiling and sighing. Music so gentle it could be heard through the square window on any episode of Playschool, but with a tinge of raw dirty appeal with it's ambiguous lyrical content, I knew I'd tapped into something amazing. I wanted to put the CD over the loud speaker to make everyone on the train happy. But there was no loud speaker. And this isn't a children's movie.
SIIIIIIIILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENT!
SIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLEEEEEEEEENTLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYY!
I hit the back button on the discman. Holy shit. Are you fucking kidding me? How is this band not the hugest band in the world? Doesn't everyone deserve to hear this voice? It seems criminal to keep her hidden.
I said very little but you seem to understand. She speaks fluently with her fingers. Squeezing the liquid honey phrasing from her aging hands.
This song made it on to EVERY compilation I made for months and months and months. I know I love a song when it makes me think of freedom and sunny days. Or dim light and a warm bed.
Eventually I saw them live. They were supporting a bigger band, and of the sparse audience, only 3 people stood at the front of the stage. My best friend and I were two of them. Eventually she would get an opportunity to interview them and took me along. I can quite honestly tell you that they're every bit and lovely and enchanting as their music, only less soft and they swear more. In French! Hot! (The drummer, Derek, is French)
More recently they did a live set on a radio station that included some new songs. One song in particular caught my attention. Doom Pony, described as being about road rage on country roads (picture Victoria tailgating some poor bastard who dared to cross her in their car...) is as such ever so slightly country.
A bit more upbeat than their previous songs, but still that incredible voice finds a way to soar up and above and swirl around your hair. It even probes your nostrils.
Maybe it's just the incredibly cool song title, but this song feels slightly darker, even though it's far poppier than the vast majority, the lyrics lending a sense of mystery. What the hell is a Doom Pony and where can I get one?!