Some gigs feel like a secret you have all to yourself. The first time Savages played in Seattle, the band had released one song and the room was half full. Half a year later, they sold out Neumos months in advance of the date. The first time HAIM played Seattle, their Neumos date sold out a week before their album dropped. Their next time around, they sold out Paramount. On a smaller scale, tonight's Hinds show felt something akin to that. The Madrid band have a handful of EPs in their catalog, but they don't drop their full length Mom + Pop debut Leave Me Alone until January. This first US headlining tour is a taster for those fans in the know. And believe us when we say, after seeing tonight's festivities, we are glad we can be a part of that group. Hinds are undoubtedly on the rise to stardom, and this is the first of many times we'll be seeing them in our fair city. Together with rising New York act Public Access TV, Hinds took the Vera Project by storm. To quote their brand new single "Garden", they can take us dancing any time they'd like.I need no further evidence of musical reincarnation than John Eatherly of New York band Public Access TV. The band has existed for just shy of two years, and yet seeing them live, you get this bizarre feeling of deja vu that they've all done this before in some other lifetime. The reason being: Public Access TV are unfairly good. This past May, the band released a self-titled EP on Terrible Records, and now the band are prepping final touches on a full length debut that will include the recently released single "Patti Peru". From top to bottom, Public Access TV move and groove and compound each other's energy like a band five times their age. In terms of influence, you see a bit of the Strokes, a bit of the Arctic Monkeys, and plenty of the classics. But the clean, crisp, razor sharp rock and roll this band puts forth finds itself on the polar end of the spectrum from their Burger-ey counterparts here tonight. No reverb or fuzz to fill in the cracks - there was no room between the pitch-perfect hooks and impeccable guitar work. Their set tonight at the Vera couldn't have gone off with any more prestige. With breakout tracks like "Monaco" and "In The Mirror", the band showed their stuff in great form. With Public Access TV leading the charge of Hinds' first headlining tour down the US coast, they have dependable and remarkable partners in crime. These two bands give us a grand picture of whole of what's on the rock table right now, and both play to their own tune incredibly well.
Public Access TV:
I don't think anyone could doubt the sincerity or the earnestness of Hinds' music if they tried. The Madrid quartet just has too much fun making it and playing it for their fans live. After a handful of EP and 7" releases in the past two years, Hinds' debut LP Leave Me Alone is out January 8, 2016. We've heard its two lead singles "Garden" and "Chili Town", and anything from where both of those gems came is bound to be magic. The band has released a split 7" and a cassette with help from LA's Burger Records, but the full length will be out on Mom + Pop, which seems like a much more apt home for Hinds. While the band does love and house a lo-fi fuzz sound, their lyrics and their presence are too honest. Seeing these four women perform these songs, you see the faces and the feelings and you can picture the experiences that made them. It's no surprise at all that the band have dubbed Leave Me Alone as a more serious record. The truth is, Hinds have been dead serious this entire time - they are just more honest to their own exuberance than we often get the opportunity to see on the pop scene.
Tonight at the Vera, the sizable crowd got to witness something you don't get to see very often. This show being Hinds' first headlining gig of the tour (the tour before this has been opening for Glass Animals, with a one-off gig in Vancouver with Black Lips and Ariel Pink), the band were ecstatic to play for their own crowd, and it showed in every note they played. As the crowds cheered for "Trippy Gum" and "Garden", Carlotta and Ana both shook off some technical concerns and launched into unabashed, harmonic nirvana. Ade's bass lines were vicious and unflinching. Amber's drumming was lively and joyful. The four women played off of each other so wonderfully, all with full, sincere smiles throughout the set. Plus, their inter-song banter was second to none. Ana spoofed on Vera a bit, saying the place was great but that she was sorry the crowd couldn't drink ("Sober Hinds", Carlotta remarked). Then, Carlotta gave a shout out to all of the cool things from Seattle: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Twilight, and 50 Shades of Gray. You can't make this stuff up.
Closing with "Castigadas en el Granero" and their cover of Thee Headcoats' "Davy Crockett", Hinds lit the Vera Project up like a Christmas tree. Mosh pits broke out. Fans sang along in Spanish as best they could. There was no doubt in this moment that, once Leave Me Alone drops, we'll be seeing Hinds take a much larger venue next time around. This lovely ladies are the next big thing, and that's good news for all parties involved.
Hinds:
Catch LPs from both Hinds and Public Access TV early next year! And check the rest of the dates for their first US headlining tour here.
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