Transviolet - The New Bohemia?
A new Chinese year of the monkey this week and a new band emerge from their LA base in the States to play a ‘one off’ UK show at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, and they’re not monkeying around here, despite still visibly suffering with jet lag, the band waste no time in bouncing up on to the small stage.
This is Transviolet, lead vocals Sarah McTaggart, guitarist and vocalist Judah McCarthy, bass and key player Mike Panek and drummer Jon Garcia. Despite only having released 1 EP to their name, they have already attracted a lot of attention with the likes of Harry Styles, Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding and Lorde quickly adopting them as their own, and recently they played live on James Corden’s Late Late Show in the US. So a band that have seemingly come from nowhere have a point to prove, and keen they are to do just that, at their first headlining show in the UK.
Dressed in a black spotted top and matching shorts McTaggart is a sultry vision of elegance and grace, swaying gently from side to side, poised, confident and enigmatic. Her stage presence belies her age and experience at times; this is a frontwoman with a mission.
The band are playing some great guitar and synth laden pop, with a bit of attitude thrown in (courtesy of McTaggart), think Lorde/Chvrches and you wouldn’t be too far away. Particularly during ‘New Bohemia’ tonight, where I defy anyone to listen to it without thinking it sounds just a little bit like a souped up ‘Royals’.
McTaggart - visually is like a mash up of Katy Perry and Debbie Harry, and yet can sound like Lana Del Ray at times, but she is quite prepared to bounce around this small stage, at one point jumping from the bass drum back to the floor, adrenaline evidently trumps jet lag.
‘Bloodstream’ crashes in with it’s anthemic synth led chorus, a careful balance of guitar and keys and a taste of the potential that these songs could be ringing around bigger venues in just a few months’ time.
They are clearly a band, and they gel very well live, less reliance on the technology than I have seen in other recent performances. But, whilst Transviolet seek to be all about challenging the genre norms, they are not rewriting or revolutionising music, there isn’t a break in the set and an acoustic guitar comes out, nor a stripped back solo spot, they don't deviate from what they are good at, and they are most definitely placed in that radio friendly pop world, but their take on it remains fresh and stimulating.
Clearly pleased to see that people had come out to see an unknown band play their first headline UK show, McTaggart is also happy to announce they would be coming back to the UK very soon to support Twenty One Pilots on their tour, further live exposure will do them good.
Saving the slow burning of ‘Girls Your Age’ till last was a perfect ending, this track is starting to get more airplay, and together with ‘New Bohemia’ will be their theme tunes for the next few years. Starting with what sounds like a rally cry for more ‘girl power’ the “wha ooohs’ turn into a sparse synth assisted vocal, and ends with a short bombastic explosion of sound, it is the stand out tune of the night.
I’m surprised it wasn’t as packed as I expected, despite this essentially being a free gig, if you applied for a ticket. The support act King No-One were an excellent young indie pop act and as a fellow ‘Yorkie’ it was great to see my hometown being represented at this London showcase.
For those that made the effort on a Wednesday night, they were more than fully rewarded, and if Transviolet are the new bohemia and become a great pop act of the next decade, they can say that they were there at the start. I’d certainly take a Transviolet band any day over a backing track karaoke singer or X-Factor brand creation.
COMMENTS
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'Visibly suffering with jetlag'.........ouch! I do like the sound of this act however, so I will research further.
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I've not come across these before, I shall have to have a listen, they sound interesting. Thanks for the review
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Great review, they sound intriguing
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Great review, they sound intriguing
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Great review, they sound intriguing
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Great review, they sound intriguing
