Yes the Italians continue to invade the bars and venues of hip and happening Dalston. This time it's STIVE CANTARELLI & THE SILENT STRANGERS who are here to play the second show of their current tour to promote the new album Black Music/White Music, due out on Stovepony records on the 5th March. The album was recorded near the band's base in and round the Romagna Hills. Indeed, some of you may remember Stiv from his old band Satellite Inn and then again you may not!!
It's an acoustic show in a pub that has a loose 'no drums' rule that the band are flouting with a minimal drum kit of bass drum, snare drum and one very small cymbal as well as a bass player and Stiv on vocals and guitar. They opened with what is listed on the band's setlist as Motel, a cool song about feeling like you are some kind of Jesus from nowhere. Let's face it we have all had those feelings at some point. I was impressed by what the limitations of the minimal drum kit did for the drummer who was very inventive in how he used the set-up he had very effectively.
Stiv's slightly gruff vocals worked really well while singing about The Rookie who can't hardly win - well that can only come with more experience, but then many of this band's songs seem to be about losing. Still, Mahogany had a nice, slightly psychedelic edge to it that reminded me of Died Pretty and if it had been fully amped up would probably also sound a bit like Velvet Crush. Red Star had some very cool lyrics about how the Whole truth may be left untold as is so often the case.
10,000 Stones was the first song of the set whose title I got right in my notes. It's sort of an updating of the themes of Patti Smith's Piss Factory and is about what a chore it is to work in a factory. I really liked the guitar lines on Spinning: almost a love song as Stiv wonders if you sing that song for me, well you might and then again you might not.
|
He then sang a song about Willy Vlautin of Americana Leg Ends Richmond Fontaine: a band, who no matter how many times I see them as a band or in other projects I just don't get. Still, the song Willy isn't too bad - certainly better than having to hear Willy reading from his book Motel Life.
For me the best song of the set was Deconstruction.It seemed to be about the break-up of a relationship as they mused about what they had lost over some good downbeat blues. It had stiff competition though from Annie: another song redolent of loss but without the pain, where would the great songs come from?
Well, maybe deep in the band's Soul Seller. Yes they had come to sell us their souls in Dalston and judging by what else is for sale locally that is nothing out of the ordinary! They then did a very fine cover of Under my Thumb that had just enough of a ragged country edge to it to work perfectly well, while Stiv told us of an argument he had recently with some dumb idiot who insisted that it was written by some American songwriter!!
They closed a decent set with Dark Times which sums up exactly what we are living through. A cool show for sure, the only problem I had with it was that some of the songs are not quite memorable enough. Nonetheless, these guys are well worth seeing and will be touring more throughout the year with more dates already announced for Italy, Holland and the UK. Catch 'em when you can.
|
