VALLEYS – Divan Orange – 10.27.10
The duo opened with “Lucy’s Sad”, one of their most well-loved songs which truly exemplifies Moya’s haunting vocals. Gamble played the electric saw with a violin’s bow, making an eerie sound to the effect of playing a violin underwater. Moya then took a screwdriver to the strings of his guitar much like a bow, making a similarly eerie, echoey whir, as they lead into “L’éclat du ciel était insoutenable”, an elegiac instrumental song. They followed with “The Orchard”, another song featuring Moya’s evocative vocals, during which Gamble sang ghostly “ooo”s into an old phone connected to an amp. They ended on “Silver Planes”, making this a very short set of only 5 songs, but enjoyable all the while.
Unfortunately, with the venue charging only $5 cover and it being a neighborhood bar in addition to being a venue, there were some people there talking obnoxiously loud throughout much of the set. These inconsiderate patrons made it difficult for the audience to hear at times, especially since many of HRSTA’s songs have hushed instrumental arrangements and subtle, near-whispered singing. Fortunately, the nuisance didn’t totally spoil the set, but it’s always a bummer when that happens at a show you’re really into.
Montreal’s Grimes was set to follow HRSTA and, to my surprise, it was a very young-looking girl who took the stage with nothing but a keyboard propped up on a couple of chairs. She seemed to be bouncing with energy and opened her set on a bit of an awkward note, saying, “The last band was really cool… And I’m sure the next band is cool, too…” It seemed she couldn’t be bothered to actually learn their names. She began looping some sampled drum and piano tracks and singing in her own, unique way, occasionally making little screaming noises into the microphone with a heavy echo effect. While she seemed to have a bit of trouble with her gear, missing a couple of cues and having to wait for the drum and piano tracks to loop again so she could sync correctly, she seemed very excited to be there and it seemed like she was doing what she loves to do. It was certainly an interesting set that got everyone’s attention.
Next up was Valleys, which consists of Marc St. Louis and Pascal Oliver on guitars and Matilda Perks on synth and bass (and all of them took turns playing a snare and cymbal intermittently). They opened their set in a fury of loud feedback which lead into “Tan Lines”, in which they all sing verses together in a sweet-sounding unison over waves of synth and gentle guitar strumming. They had a surprisingly rich sound in spite of their minimalist set-up and low-fi style. A resonating, ambient build-up lead into “Killer Legs” and then into “Ordinary Dream”, where Perks took over the vocals. St. Louis and Oliver put down their guitars and simultaneously pounded on two drums for “Ten Thousand Hours”, building an unexpected amount of power and intensity on the small stage. Contrastingly, they ended on the more intimate song, “The Heavy Dreamer”, with more sweet unified singing and heavy-held notes fitting of the song’s dreamy subject, before gradually building up into a noisy guitar-hammering finale.
Divan had quieted down by then, and there weren’t as many people there to watch Valleys play as had been there earlier, as it was around midnight by that time, but they played a solid set nonetheless. Valleys seem poised to take the scene by storm very soon and they’re set to release a new digital EP on November 9th, called Stoner, on Semprini Records so be sure to keep your eye on these guys. – Natasha Young
Valleys
Grimes
HRSTA
Photography by Sean Mundy
