Girlpool
Support: Ian Sweet
The Village Underground
7.9.17
In the time since their last visit to London, Girlpool have plugged in and turned it UP. Their second album, Powerplant, saw the duo move away from the bedroom harmonies and no-frills production of Before the World Was Big and fill out their backline. With a drummer, an additional guitarist and a saxophonist, Cleo and Harmony sound positively huge in the caverns of the Village Underground.
Older cuts like ‘Ideal World’ and ‘Cherry Picking’ are given a new lease of life by the full production, which puts meat on the once bare-bones structures, while the newer material is played lower and lazier than on record, particularly a leisurely rendition of ‘Powerplant’. As magnetic as ever, Cleo and Harmony’s friendship still takes center-stage above all else. Tonight there’s rapping, broken microphones and bad jokes – all serving the intimacy and fun of the night while demonstrating the survival of their bedroom band roots through the added amplification.
Photos: Grant Bailey