Honing that pure pop sound whilst also being able to rock out when the mood takes you is perhaps more difficult that it first seems. Many bands over the years have tried do have a foot planted in both camps with differing degrees of success. Queen for instance, are best remembered as a hard rock band but their best work is full of sublime pop moments, whereas when they rocked out, a lot of their subtlety and nuance got blasted to hell.
Discounting the encore, those aforementioned tunes bookended a short, sweet and thrilling Trades Club set, one of a handful of indoor appearances sandwiched between summer festival dates on this side of the pond, including Reading and Leeds; ahead of a wider UK tour in the autumn with a scheduled date at Leeds Church on 20th November.
The power trio are clearly drilled to within an inch of their lives whilst maintaining a fluidity in their performance keeping things pretty loose. Interplay between Cummings and Kivlen, tonight adorned in white and green one piece jumpsuits respectively, makes it look as if they’re jamming in one of each other’s garages, although with her mane of blond locks combined with her attire and black Rickenbacker, I suddenly get a vision of 2112-era Alex Lifeson playing Geddy Lee’s bass….eek!
The Trades Club seemed pretty full despite not completely selling out, the audience keeping their cards close to their collective chest early on. Ironically it’s Sunflower Bean’s tender cover of ‘Harvest Moon’ that finally wins them over and with the ice duly broken, it’s only a matter of time before everyone is joining in, singing back to the band on penultimate number ‘Easier Said’.
Chatting briefly with Nick during an aftershow merchandise stall appearance, he intimating their upcoming UK gigs will boast longer sets featuring more material from their latest record, as well as featuring two other American support bands.
Should be a great night.
Sunflower Bean official
