Charly Bliss Setlist
Tour Dates
05/15/2017 Beachland Tavern Cleveland, OH 05/17/2017 Boot & Saddle Philadelphia, PA 05/18/2017 Baby's All Right Brooklyn, NY 06/13/2017 Spirit Pittsburgh, PA 06/14/2017 Chameleon Lancaster, PA 06/15/2017 Black Cat Washington, DC 06/16/2017 Cafe Nine New Haven, CT 06/17/2017 Once Ballroom Somerville, MA 06/23/2017 Garcia's Port Chester, NY Read More
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Driving twenty-five hours straight from Seattle, Brooklyn power pop band Charly Bliss was restless and eager to rain their musical glitter on the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, proving they’re quickly outgrowing any guppy-like status.
The triple-bill evening began with a generous thirty-five minute opening set from Omaha, NE’s See Through Dresses, who played several new songs from their upcoming Horse of the Other World (Tiny Engines Records), due out June 30th, including recent singles, ‘Pretty Police’ and ‘Violet’.
The energetic dream-punk foursome has expanded from their more basic shoegazer beginnings, anchored by co-vocalists guitarist Mathew Carroll and petite dynamo Sara Bertuldo on keys and guitar, so expect even greater things, once the new album releases.
Label mates (“sister wives” as drummer Casey Sowa called them) and one of the Twin Cities’ best musical secrets, Strange Relations followed with their own half-hour set, including their most recent single, ‘Maria Sweet’ released just over a month ago. The trio (Sowa on drums and vocals; Maro Helgeson on bass and synth; and Nate Hart-Andersen on guitar) plays a blend of sounds that starts with indie-pop, sprinkled with post-punk and feminist bedroom diary rock.
Drummer Sowa is unabashedly honest, both in her lyrics and short comments between songs, playing on the right side of the stage while Hart-Andersen mostly kept to his space on the left, occasionally intermingling with the blonde Helgeson keeping the bottom end at center stage. The band continues to develop from recent EP, Going Out and 2015 album –Centrism and is a solid addition to the local scene.
Though they’ve been a band for half a decade, it seems like the time is now for Charly Bliss, the four-piece breaking through to alternative radio and singer Eva Hendricks was in full celebration mode, even dressing in a fetching white dress, reminiscent of Doll Parts-era Courtney Love.
The group is in support of debut full length, Guppy (Barsuk Records) released just a couple weeks ago, with the Onion’s AV Club already deeming it “an instant classic”. The band’s sound is akin to the likes of Sleater-Kinney and Veruca Salt (who they’ve both toured with) and consists of Hendricks, her older brother Sam, bassist (and former boyfriend) Dan Shure, and guitarist Spencer Fox, who she met at age fifteen and who actually voiced Dash in Disney’s The Incredibles and Mudbud in Air Buddies.
The new album, “an ecosystem where our loud, messy rock sounds could co-exist with these super catchy melodies and pop hooks” was recorded and then re-recorded before finally finding that delicate balance they were looking for.
Hendricks and band came out charging for their forty-five minute set, with the opening ‘Percolator’, she vocally kickboxing into the song with a girlish, slightly squeaky vocal, instead of actually kickboxing as she does in the music video of the song.
‘Westermarck’ was inspired by a 19th century psychological theory which seems oddly deep, but it’s quickly apparent that Hendricks uses many of her lyrics as a form of therapeutic release by vocalizing her thoughts and feelings, while still keeping things danceable.
“Last time I was here, I loved it a little too much”, Shure mentioned as it was his birthday the night they played, and this night happened to be Fox’s birthday, so they were again looking forward to a fun evening.
“On our way here… we had a little bit of an issue…” Hendricks confessed, admitting their van broke down soon after leaving Seattle, forcing them to make the twenty-five hour drive straight through in order to make the show. As a result of being pent-up on the road for so long, the band moved actively on stage all night, with Hendricks constantly pogo-ing in place, her tousled blonde hair tossing to and fro.
“This is bonkers!” Hendricks gleaned after playing ‘Ruby’, a thank-you song to her therapist and whose guitar solo was originally developed by the band passing a guitar around as they sat in a circle. The new ‘Heaven’ was called their first love song, and dedicated to their friends in the two opening bands that played earlier.
‘DQ’ starts with a line about laughing as a dog died, but eventually gets around to the ice cream reference, and radio hit ‘Glitter’ asked in its chorus “Am I the best, or just the first person to say yes?” as most of the floor jumped in place.
The band returned for a one-song encore, “We’ll play one more song, will you guys promise you’ll dance with me?” Hendricks asked as the bash and crash of ‘Love Me’ amped up in volume as Hendricks sang, “I wish I could drop you in one place, cut you down to size and watch you try to run away”.
Making the dark danceable and the melancholy melodic, Charly Bliss’ sound harkens back to the glorious mid ‘90s and bands like Letters to Cleo, Veruca Salt, and That Dog, but puts a modern spin on things to seem fresh and relevant. This guppy is swimming hard and fast, and dares you to catch up with it, before it gets away and leaves you behind.
See Through Dresses |
See Through Dresses |
Strange Relations |
Strange Relations |
Charly Bliss |
Charly Bliss |
Charly Bliss |
Charly Bliss |
Charly Bliss at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (12 May 2017) |