Review:
'GIRLYMAN'
'Bristol, The Hen and Chicken, 24th May 2012'
- Genre: 'Folk'
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Our Rating:
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I had not heard of GIRLYMAN and I didn't know that the Hen and Chicken existed until last night. This morning I've bought the new GIRLYMAN album and I'm looking at future "Hen and Chicken" gigs. Both turned out to be great pleasures. South of the river Bristol, and Southern States USA have special character and charm, especially on a warm sunny evening on the way to Summer.
GIRLYMAN did two full sets of elegantly well-played songs. Three part harmonies and subtle tunes are the most obvious virtues. Adult-strength stories and JJ Jones' delightfully fastidious drumming are the secret ingredients. Lightness on the ear so often goes together with banality and escapism that my first reaction was cautious. But song after song the depth and quality of their repertoire drew me in. "Amaze Me", "Somewhere Different Now", "Young James Dean", and lots more, evoked names like Janis Ian and Willie Nelson, emotional outsiders with their hearts on their sleeves. Folksy Americana and urban literacy sit comfortably together in the sound. Writing credits are spread. Individual and shared efforts increase the breadth. Spontaneous outbursts of made-up-on-the-spot tuning-up songs demonstrate the ease they have in making shared music.
The current album's title track "Supernova" has immediate emotional relevance for the band. It's also an outstanding song that builds on the last seven or eight years of writing and playing together. The harmonies come so easily and fluently. Nate Borofsky, Tylan Greensteim and Doris Muramatsu listen to each other and smile as they sing their parts. None of that scrunched-up-face straining-to-get-the-right-note stuff. The interweaving lines come as naturally as the lyrics and the tunes.
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As four individuals on stage they present all kinds of intriguing ambiguity and difference. The small, smartly dressed, kinetically-charged JJ Jones, intensely focussed on every percussive stroke is radically unlike the languid Nate Borofsky, casually meandering between instruments, narratives and goofy smiles. Across the stage Tylan Greensteim and Doris Muramatsu present more enigmas. And all of this, of course, feeds into the fascination and authenticity of the songs. You don't need to read the band biography, you will find the mysteries in the songs. That's how it felt to me on the night. Four strangers who gradually revealed experiences and magic that had the audience enthralled and completely absorbed.
There's a very good website. http://girlyman.com/ but go and see them in person.
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author: Sam
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Doris Muramatsu in Bristol
Tylan, Nate, Doris and JJ
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