[ATTENDED: February 8, 2018] Palehound
I also first heard Palehound on Tiny Desk. I was really impressed with the range of songs that Ellen Kempner played as well as her dynamic guitar work–from pretty melodies to seriously scorching solos. But it was her other show (from (Le) Poisson Rouge in the fall of 2015) that NPR broadcast that really made me want to see her live.
So getting Palehound and Waeves in one show was pretty awesome.
I was pretty delighted that she said she was inspired by Weaves to make their setlist fast in the beginning–she was ready to rock out. And so she started with some of her best full-on songs.
Kempner is fun to watch (she was wearing that cool dress and some big work boots) as she switched effortlessly from wailing guitar to singing and sometimes both.
I was also delighted at the rest of her band. Drummer Jesse Weiss (never got a good picture of him) was great, and her bassist Larz Brogan was so happy. I need to start a list of happy bassists–she and Karina Rykman are way at the top of the list. She just seemed to be having the best time playing and singing along.
“Molly” opens with a fast, pumping bass line and some roaring guitars. There’s a definite Nirvana vibe, and not just because Larz was bouncing around, dancing and happy. The middle of the song has a great break down where she just gets to wail–it was a great opener.
“Carnations” starts out chugging along and then adds a great, catchy vocal and guitar melody to the chorus. “Turning 21” has a great pop sense, buried in distortion. I love the way the pace slows for the chorus only to pick right up again. And once again, there’s a great bass line running throughout the song.
“Dry Food” slows things down with a really pretty picked melody. I love that she sings the downward melody in the first line of each verse. And I really love the way this moody song slowly builds drama: “you made beauty a monster to me.”
Things slowed down dramatically for “At Night I’m Alright with you” in which Jesse played an electronic drum to get the crashing sounds. It’s a pretty ballad. Things stayed mellow with “Backseat, ” a moody piece with some delicate but prominent bass work.
For “Feeling Fruit” Larz sat down and Jesse sat still while Ellen played the beautiful quiet guitar melody and sang in her best whispering voice. Things stayed quiet with her newest single “YMCA Pool.” This short song is just her and her guitar.
It was a pretty mellow ten or so minutes, but Ellen brought us back up with a totally rocking “Cinnamon” It’s a swinging song with an opening guitar riff that is so wonderfully classic rock but done with a very different tone. The song is quiet but with some great loud yelling parts: “God came down and roughed me up.”
It was followed by the grooving “Room.” And then she played the first song I’d heard from Palehound, and still a favorite, the quirky “Pet Carrot.” Its starts slowly with an unexpected falsetto that descends wonderfully through the vocal melody.
The set ended with the terrific “If You Met Her.” It’s got a great vocal delivery. The chorus unexpectedly adds a faster singing part even if the pace of the song doesn’t really go faster: “when the dust clears, where’s my body.”
At the merch table, Palehound was selling some CDs and tapes and also blue nail polish! Nailhound by Palehound. The band didn’t come over by the time I’d left, but it was pretty late by then, so I didn’t feel like sticking around.
It was a great trio of bands in a great venue. Next time though, I need to hear what it sounds like upstairs.
Setlist
- Molly**
- Carnations*
- Turning 21*
- Dry Food**
- At Night I’m Alright With You*
- Backseat*
- Feeling Fruit*
- YMCA Pool
- Cinnamon**
- Room*
- Pet Carrot**
- If You Met Her*
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