Gig Review: Water From Your Eyes at Village Underground

27 Nov

The Brooklyn duo turn a very rainy evening to a very raucous one.

There is very little to be said about Water From Your Eyes that hasn’t been said already. I’m not going to sit here and throw out words like ‘eclectic’ or ‘left-field’ to describe their sound. If you’re reading a live gig review on our humble, independent music magazine, about a week after the gig took place, I’m going to assume you know who they are already. It should be no surprise then, that the project mainly comprising of vocalist Rachel Brown and Nate Amos, blew the fucking roof off, and boy did I love every single second of it.

The Brooklyn duo have slowly built themselves up to be perhaps the coolest outfit in indie music. With the release of their latest project It’s A Beautiful Place, they’ve quietly tiptoed closer towards the mainstream, but thankfully their pure oddness as a live act as well as their broad - sometimes abrasive - sonic ideas in recorded form keep them as a band for those in the know. It’s easily one of the best albums of this year, and them managing to fill out Village Underground shows that droves of London agree.

With the changing of the weather in the capital comes the welcoming of rainy evenings. Packing into the subterranean venue in such weather meant plenty of wet footprints, and an annoying lack of room because of all the bulkier coats present. No worries, these will all be non-issues soon. The first of two opening acts was mui zyu. Their lo-fi, shoegaze adjacent pop mix of synths, confident guitars, and a violin (!!) was a great blend of nostalgic comfort and expansive ideas. With Cantonese roots, the Belfast-born singer employed her mother tongue in one of their songs in full, only pulling on the strings of my own roots in Hong Kong to great effect. Next up was Morgan Garrett, which was unfortunately not as compelling. Despite others taking to his supposed performance art, it felt like a poor imitation of what might have the makings for an only decent gothic hardcore sound. Really their main feature was wailing, and some guitars that came in seemingly whenever they felt like it.

Water From Your Eyes took the stage soon after, announcing that we were “going to party rock tonight”, before launching into the guitar-heavy ‘Born 2’ from their latest project. Amos added some very welcome embellishments to his guitar parts, flashing not only his competency as an instrumentalist but also his dexterity as a musician. Folding in the first three tracks from their last album, it not only activated the crowd but also showed how different their new material is. Everything’s Crushed was great, but It’s a Beautiful Place shows a more composed and cohesive duo, and it shows when they play together on stage.

Their unorthodox stage presence is only matched by their sincerity. Amos maintained a face of nonchalance through the whole set, while Brown’s awkward comedic timing found an incredibly welcome home here. Their esoteric ramblings that “there is no other London” was met with unanimous cheering, even if they might have offended Cincinnati in the process, and their clear statement of “fuck the fascists”, and “Free Palestine” were said to a sea of support. As if they needed to get the crowd more on their side, ‘Life Signs’ and ‘Buy My Product’ launched many into a little mosh pit by the stage. With coats in cloak room and shoes now drier, the energy inside the venue was strangely lively and cosy at the same time.

Amos has said before on how much he respects John Frusicante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and it really shows. His talents on guitar were on full display as he continuously added little passages of improvisation; enough to take notice of, but never enough to take away from the band and the song. On the other end “It’s a Beautiful Place’, the instrumental title track, lets him and his shredding take centre stage, with Brown prefacing it saying “let Nate take you to a different planet for a sec.” Ending on ‘Blood On The Dollar” and “Playing Classics” to a rocking crowd, it’s difficult to describe their set as anything short of a triumph. The live drums and bass elevated its recorded source material, adding grit and texture, while Amos and Brown’s on stage chemistry inject the music with joy that it doesn’t even really need. Before playing their encore of ‘Track Five’, Brown asserts: “Let’s dance one more time.” If anyone reading this for whatever reason doesn’t know who Water From Your Eyes are, take this as a sign to not only listen to their albums, but to catch them whenever they play near you next, so you too can dance with them.