Live Review and Interview with Alain from Isabel At Sunset (Tea Kettle Records) (3/3) By Michelle Dee

(1/3), (2/3), (2/3).

Photography Gallery Isabel At Sunset Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Rocky Nest Gallery,   People Gallery.

He jumps around gesticulating, posturing with overgrown pixie-like qualities; deviant, animated and defiant. Tonight's performance is littered with shining allusions for the muso to note down, mid nineties swagger rock and the occasional Kelly Jones drawling vocal, then at times otherworldliness abounds within sci-fi escarpments and rocky outcrops of intricate and crystalline Indie pop recreation.

Songs to look out for are Kevin Keyboards... the engaging guitar scours, the spoken narrative constructs and science fiction references prove memorable and rewarding.

The title track Meet The Gang sounds initially familiar yet refuses to compromise and continues to challenge the listener as it morphs fragments of folk and electronica into its whole. Then there is Trucks n Cars a strange road trip, eerie at times with poetic lyrical refrains. Just before the last track on the CD there is an icy blast of instrumental hooks that lend a sense of foreboding that build into an avalanche of layered sounds.

The final track, Just me in the mirror reaches out to the listener and rewards with deep seated yearning, steeped in odd melancholy and melting minimalist lyrical refrains. From the familiar mid nineties vocal drawling and the veins bled from Brit rock, to the stranger more pensive challenging sounds, the songs on Meet The Gang by Isabel at Sunset explode like miniature supernovae in alien skies; recognisably Indie yet imparts a steadfast refusal to adhere to Indie norms.

As I leave the Adelphi club in Hull filled with vehemence for this newly found foreign talent I spy someone's yellow fruit on the side. I am reminded of a time Isabel played a coastal town in Italy, a place called Banana. The band were under the impression that the venue was a sort of Indie club by the sea, unfortunately the music these fans were more accustomed to had more of the Tango and Caribbean flavour, they'd come that night expecting to hear Calypso and Bossa Nova.

Alain recalls quite a few Blues Brotheresque chicken wire moments: the band did drink more than the performance fee and the owner was less than pleased when a slightly dunk Alain demanded the money for playing later that night. He says with a grin he must have looked like some kind of maniac; bare-chested, sweating, sporting a long trench coat. www.myspace.com/isabelatsunset www.myspace.com/therockynest

Photography Gallery Isabel At Sunset Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Rocky Nest Gallery,   People Gallery.

Photographs courtesy and Copyright © 2007  Michelle Dee

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