Liverpool’s Her’s embark on their first ever US headline tour with a sold-out first date at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn.
Her’s
The streets have been drenched with an onslaught of steady, spitting rain that had been falling all evening, but the warmth of Babyโs All Right in Williamsburg wraps the crowd in a steamy embrace away from the cold outside. Itโs a sold out gig, and it shows, with people packed in all the way from the stage to the back walls.
The first step indoors is graced with the lo-fi โvoidโ pop of NYC locals Field Trip, the project born of Noah Davies after the transplant moved here from Los Angeles. It’s always impressive to see a singing drummer, and Davies wasn’t any different. Drawing from both psych influences and post-punk revivals, Field Trip offer a dynamic trip through time and space with their entrancing and captivating tunes.
With the release of their official first album, Invitation to Herโs, Liverpool-based duo Herโs suddenly seemed to come alive under the pressures of being both pioneering in their sound, and yet still being reminiscent of some of the greatest groovy tunes of past decades. The mighty range of guitarist/vocalist Stephen Fitzpatrick offers a warbling baritone and a sparkling alto, offering hypnotic, melodic storytelling capabilities. Meanwhile Auden Laading, all the while boogey-ing across the stage with a blissful grin that only proves heโs having the most fun out of all of us, cuts through with a range of masterful basslines.
The opener for the night is the appropriate โMarcel,โ a slow romp through doo-wop, gauze-coated heaven, and one of the oft-dubbed โwoozierโ Demarco-esque moments from their mini-album, Songs of Herโs. Not wasting a moment, however, they dive straight into belter โMannieโs Smile,โ inspiring a sudden heave from the audience, who could no longer contain the desire to bop along to the infectious harmonies that Herโs have become so well-loved for. โIf you want to jig your butt up and down on someone, this is your chance,โ is a highly-appropriate encouragement from them before delving into their most popular (according to Spotify, at least) โCool With You,โ and then the eighties-reminiscent โLove on the Line (Call Now).โ
By far the most enthusiastic reaction is to the objectively-greatest song from Songs of Herโs, โDorothy,โ which featuring a bounding earworm of a bassline rolling in glittering guitar, evoking memories of all your favorite bands from the eighties that Herโs seem to achieve so well, before melting into the silky, funky crescendo that is โHarvey,โ pushing even more warmth into the bouncing crowd. The encore slows down an electric crowd with the more tender harmonies of โUnder Wraps,โ and then only hypes us back up with the beachy vibes of โSpeed Racer.โ
While this first US tour may have only put them on our map for four dates on the east and west coasts, the utter popularity and talent of Herโs are bringing them back for a much more extended time this coming spring around their appearances at SXSW โ19, including treks up the PNW and even into good old Canada. No fear, those who couldnโt catch them on their speedy visit this time โ the duo will return.