The Epstein have got really, really good. Well, I last saw them at Truck 2005, so I’ve probably realised this well behind more avid followers of the Oxford music scene, but they seem to have suddenly picked up the kind of sound you normally only get from scruffy old Texan male bands who’ve been on the road for years and are now filling stadiums. It’s a rocking sound: powerful but tight; exuberant and swinging but with sweet harmonies (cf their tear-jerking classic Leave your Light On) in their place. It’s country without the tweeness, and rock without the tiresome earnestness, and has a gorgeous twangy banjo-rich bounce that makes you want to get up and dance like a chicken.
They travel easily from mood to mood, from full-on jump-around stuff to tender ballads. Ed Hawksworth took over the mic at one point for a lurching Tom Waits-eque waltz, apparently in guttural Russian, and singer KTB joined vocalist Ollie for the wistful Fraulein. We were also graced by a special guest appearance from the shaggy Joe Bennett en route to America, playing trumpet and country violin with demonic panache.
KTB is now based in Birmingham, so for those who haven’t heard her for a while, I can let you know that her voice and style have taken on a new maturity while still demonstrating the wry humour and uncanny melodies with which she won her Oxford following. At a solo KTB gig, you’re effectively getting two singers: the girl and the guitar, which has a whole life of its own, twining her gorgeous jazzy chords around her voice. Among more familiar songs, we got a newly-finished version of Smile Again and a brand-new song (To Counteract an Attack of the Blues) complete with mimicked trumpet solo about what not to listen to when you’re down (“When you’re badly-treated by your fella, / Stay away from Billie, Nina and Ella”). She's got a sweet, strong sound and an irresistable (to me) combination of ironic lyrics and interesting chord progressions - watch out for her when she's next in Oxford.
See also: www.ktb.org.uk
They travel easily from mood to mood, from full-on jump-around stuff to tender ballads. Ed Hawksworth took over the mic at one point for a lurching Tom Waits-eque waltz, apparently in guttural Russian, and singer KTB joined vocalist Ollie for the wistful Fraulein. We were also graced by a special guest appearance from the shaggy Joe Bennett en route to America, playing trumpet and country violin with demonic panache.
KTB is now based in Birmingham, so for those who haven’t heard her for a while, I can let you know that her voice and style have taken on a new maturity while still demonstrating the wry humour and uncanny melodies with which she won her Oxford following. At a solo KTB gig, you’re effectively getting two singers: the girl and the guitar, which has a whole life of its own, twining her gorgeous jazzy chords around her voice. Among more familiar songs, we got a newly-finished version of Smile Again and a brand-new song (To Counteract an Attack of the Blues) complete with mimicked trumpet solo about what not to listen to when you’re down (“When you’re badly-treated by your fella, / Stay away from Billie, Nina and Ella”). She's got a sweet, strong sound and an irresistable (to me) combination of ironic lyrics and interesting chord progressions - watch out for her when she's next in Oxford.
See also: www.ktb.org.uk