kenneth in the (212): Chvrches

Showing posts with label Chvrches. Show all posts

Thursday, June 02, 2022

Song of the Day: "How Not to Drown" by Chvrches (with Robert Smith)

Although I like to say that I haven't bought an album of new music since the Bangles' "Everything" in 1988, this is obviously an exaggeration. (You know how we gays are when it comes to hyperbole!) But what I will say is that even when I have discovered a new band in the past two or three decades, it is hard for me to stick with 'em. Perhaps the best example is Chvrches, whose 2013 debut, "The Bones of What You Believe," blew me away -- Damian and I kind of fell in love to it, and we even went to see them at Radio City Music Hall, where we learned that frontwoman Lauren Mayberry's speaking voice makes Sheena Easton sound like a diction instructor -- before I sort of trailed off. Apparently they've released three albums and two EPs since(!), with "Screen Violence" being the most recent, having come out last summer. Just now finding out it featured a song with Robert Smith of the Cure was what it took to get me to play it -- and now it's today's SOTD.

You can also watch them perform it live at the BandLab NME Awards HERE. Now if only he'd do a song with Courtney Barnett!

Friday, November 05, 2021

Song of the Day: 'The Killing Moon' by Chvrches

Fun gender-flip Echo and the Bunnymen cover by Chvrches, whose new album I played once and can't remember anything about. Am I missing out?

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Song of the Day: 'Graffiti' by Chvrches

Finally getting around to listening to "Love Is Dead," the latest from Scottish synth sensations Chvrches -- and I must say it doesn't disappoint. "Graffiti" is the opener and sets the tone for a consistently fun album.

Friday, February 02, 2018

Song of the Day: 'Get Out' by Chvrches

New single by one of my few "current" bands. It's funny to read a review of it -- analyzing every little thing and taking the trio so seriously -- because I'm just happy to find contemporary music that doesn't irritate the hell out of me! I'd just say it continues in the same catchy pop vein of their previous two albums.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Song of the Day: 'It's Not Right But It's Okay' by Chvrches

Oh-my-god -- what did I TELL you?!!!

Monday, October 17, 2016

Worshiping Chvrches at Radio City Music Hall

Had a hoot Saturday night with Damian and Chad seeing Chvrches at Radio City Music Hall, a place so enchanting I could spend the evening even if there weren't a concert. Although there have been dozens of current bands people think my stubborn '80s self would "love" that I never followed up on, my friend Frank happened to visit me from Detroit when he was falling in love with the synth trio from Scotland and got me hooked by playing for me their debut album, "The Bones of What You Believe." The band has since gone on to record a delightful cover of Bauhaus's "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and a solid sophomore disc, "Every Open Eye," all of which has only strengthened my affection. (A b-side of Whitney's "It's Not Right, but It's OK" sealed the deal!)

Singer Lauren Mayberry is a doll and sounded flawless, dressed in a crop-top NYC shirt someone bought her after she moved to the city. (She told several other anecdotes about life in the big city, but like most Scottish people, I could barely understand a word she said!) Martin Doherty was adorkable behind the keyboards and on lead vocals for a couple songs, and Eric Prydz looked to be having a great time at his synthesizer perch. Seeing them up there you couldn't help but be excited FOR them for having made it to this incredible stage!

After being the youngest person at the Graham Nash show in Tarrytown I wondered if it would be painfully obvious how much younger this crowd was than me. As a scanned the youthful and great-looking sold-out theater, I realized it wasn't a bunch of 18- to 22-year-olds, but instead a mostly people around 30 or so. Just as I breathed a fake sigh of relief, it suddenly dawned on me that these people were actually the same difference in age between the Nash crowd and myself -- 20 years -- but then I just laughed and bopped the night away! If you get a chance to see Chvrches, be sure to go.