Fresh, dynamic flavour to Strange Behaviours
The regular indie/alternative night ‘Strange Behaviours’ kicks off 2017 with Taupe, a band who specialise in razorsharp polyrhythmic play, exploratory improvisation and raw, high energy live performance.
An instrumental three-piece (guitar, sax, drums) who blend math rock flavours with moments of free jazz and noise, Taupe are all subtlety and flow. Think tight jazz grooves descending into freeform tailspin, only to steer it out in perfect sync to float headily on soundscape/noise textures till you finally come to and realise your mouth has been hanging open the whole time.
Strange Behaviours at the Tolbooth, Stirling
With members spread between Edinburgh and Newcastle, the band are touring off the full endorsement of their adoring public, with a successful Kickstarter campaign allowing them to record and release the album they’ll be playing at this show.
A jaw-dropping and utterly engaging live band, their approach is built on blurring the line between carefully constructed rhythmic compositions and explosive group improvisation. Taupe thrive on the danger of this ambiguity, deconstructing their music in real time to weave fresh and dynamic paths through their material with each performance.
In support are Glasgow’s Yolo Manolo, a band blending elements of indie pop with shoegaze dynamics and meandering, hypnotic bass grooves. The band have played just a handful of shows around their home city, with their debut EP garnering a reputation for bittersweet melodies and instrumentation leaning on the best of 90s US indie subculture.
Completing the line-up is Niamh Baker, a relative newcomer both to the Stirlingshire music community and gigging in general. A sweet voice obscured behind brash electric guitar and a burning energy, her songs are soaked in melancholy and guarded aggression.
Music development officer at the Tolbooth, Kenny Bates said: “We are really excited to be bringing Taupe through to Stirling. I used to put on monthly shows with bands like Taupe through in Glasgow and these guys were one of the special ones which made you stop in your tracks and watch in awe and silence. Yolo Manolo are another really original and compelling band, and Niamh is an excellent songwriter, so it’s going to be a special one. We’re even setting out the auditorium space in a whole different way to accommodate it, it should be fun.”
Strange Behaviours returns to the Tolbooth on Saturday (February 25) at 7.30pm.