Bleached Headlines ‘Girls with Guitars’ night at the Biltmore
written by Scotty Evil
photos by Red Lenses Photography
California girls Bleached (Jennifer and Jessica Clavin) came back to Vancouver with their band after a four year spell between appearances here. Sharing the bill included locals Necking, who came out to a sparse early crowd. They didn’t seem to notice and launched into their high-energy noise punk rock and didn’t let off the gas for a second. Singer Hannah Karren split her stage time evenly between the floor and the air; bopping, jumping and doing those knee-high running exercises we all used to hate during gym in high school, all the while spitting acerbic lyrics. Songs like “Big Mouth” hearken to the grunge of Nirvana. The rest of the band kept it thrashy and simple.
Next up were Seattle’s own Dude York. This 3-piece shifted sounds from pop to punk to alt-rock with a definitive sound all their own. One could hear influences from the Cure to Oasis and other identifiable rockers from the last 30 years, the Seattle musical pedigree notwithstanding. The meticulous drumming of Andrew Hall was impossible to ignore and the sharing of vocal duties between Peter and Claire was a great counterpoint in energies. The banter was funny and sarcastic.
While the set times were running quite late by the time Bleached was ready to go, the crowd didn’t seem to notice. Most of their set was dedicated to songs from the latest album, “Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?” and yet had the fans singing along.
And again, the sonic similarities to 80’s and 90’s alt rock bands were a persistent yet audibly enjoyable theme. Songs like “911” could have easily been overlayed the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”. You could throw any of their songs into an eclectic pop/rock/punk mix and it would be seamless.
Musically the band was spot on with tempo changes and vocal harmonies. Combined with catchy guitar riffs, raw guitar tones and driving drums of Spencer Lere, their set was without a dud track in the bunch.
When the cheers subsided, the members of the band were happy to man the merch table, flogging t-shirts, vinyl and signing autographs for happy fans. I don’t normally pick up vinyl at shows, but I’m glad I did. DYTYHE is getting regular spins on my turntable now. Hope it’s not 4 years for the next time!
©nightMair Creative.com
written by Scotty Evil
photos by Red Lenses Photography
