Folk rock (with an extra injection of country flair) is certainly hot property in Australia. Mumford & Sons took out the Hottest 100, The Proclaimers just dominated Australia, touring alongside the B52s, Dropkick Murphys gain more fans by the day (“I’m Shipping Up to Boston” became an AFL song last year, strangely enough) and locally we have Boy and Bear – bringing in influence from all the above, alongside similar talents such as Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine and even our own The Middle East.
Tonight they packed out QBar/34B, headlining SOSUEME, leaving the crowd with barely any room to stand! The Sydney four-piece rely on three part harmonies, keyboards and guitars to solidify their strong sound – perhaps best exemplified via their Triple J “Next Crop” track, “Mexican Mavis” – which you can check out here: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/homeandhosed/blog/s2727512.htm
Once you listen to this track, it will come as no surprise that the band was recently featured as part of the opening night of Communion in Sydney; a night Mumford & Sons helped set up back in London. You can read about that night here: https://www.theaureview.com/sydney/communion-launch-night-feat-sherlocks-daughter-goodgod-small-club-27-01-10
While 12am on a Friday night probably wasn’t the best atmosphere to first experience the up-and-coming band, I was nonetheless impressed by the promise they displayed. Their catalogue of tracks are varied in nature, but Boy and Bear definitely know their sound and the direction they’re headed. And despite coming from a variety of musical backgrounds, the four piece sound as tight and polished as the next.
Boy and Bear are definitely ones to watch in 2010.
The night continued on well into the night with a DJ set from Joyride. I have to give particular mention to him for two reasons: one, he played “Chop Suey” by System of a Down, which I hadn’t heard in ages. And almost everyone in the club sang along to every word – even I was surprised! Sometimes it’s worth taking risks, and Joyride showed us why. Another was in mixing Dead Prez’s “Hip Hop” with Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks”. You wouldn’t think it would work, but it was another inspired choice, and was part of a set that had me dancing until the wee hours of the morning.
Credit: Header Photo from Boy & Bear’s Myspace Page
