Gig Review: Rings 02.04.08 Nice N Sleazy
Rings’ debut album Black Habit is an early contender for best record of 2008 and sees the band comfortably stepping in to fill the position of Greatest Current Pop Band recently vacated by Electrelane. I suspected as much on listening to the album, but they confirm my suspicions with aplomb tonight. A series of delays and the thoroughly average post-rock noodlings of support band Galchen don’t do anything to put anyone in a good mood, but once the band actually get on the stage and start playing, I am instantly blown away. Rings are Nina Mehta (vocals and usually guitar), Kate Rosko (vocals and usually keyboards) and Abbey Portner (vocals and usually drums). Sadly, Abbey Portner is too ill to play tonight, but the other two gamely play on without her. Fortunately the sparse tribal nature of the songs means that they can work around their missing drummer, playing the drums (consisting solely of a floor tom and a ride cymbal) in between their own parts or with the help of a primitive drum machine. Mehta and Rosko sit facing each other rather then the audience, their concentration fixed on each other and their instruments. As a member of the audience, you feel as if you are eavesdropping on something personal and intimate. Pretty much every review of the album has mentioned The Raincoats, largely because the post-punk legends’ second LP Odyshape is just about the only easily identifiable musical reference point for Rings. Like The Raincoats, Rings use their lack of conventional ability to their advantage, playing simply but with great inventiveness. Sparse, scratchy guitar lines and cycling clusters of gentle keyboard mix with sparse tribal drumbeats, with no particular part taking the lead, whilst voices sing overlapping and vaguely discordant harmonies, from lilting nursery-rhyme to pagan chanting. The end result could be a complete mess, but is informed by an understanding of space and a delicate melodicism, becoming a completely individual sound that is deeply moving. Any accusations of being excessively fey or twee are crushed by the band’s range of vivid expression, with their music moving seamlessly from melodic sweetness to darker dissonance and back again, often within the same song. Whilst I had to listen to the album a couple of times to become adjusted to the group’s sound, live the band plays with a warmth, delicacy and immediacy that is instantly enthralling. This is a band that sound like no one else on earth, yet still are able to pack an emotional punch. It’s not often you can say that, let alone in this day and age. For this reason alone, Rings deserve some of your time and attention.
posted by Jonathan Thornton at 10:05 pm
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