Warmduscher
When Micachu & The Shapes emerged in the late 2000s, they were one of the most innovative and frankly bizarre groups working within the realms of indie music. Ten years on, this is still the case. They’ve changed their name to Good Sad Happy Bad, but they continue to weld together pop hooks and eccentric textures.
Mica Levi has one of the most singular repertoires in contemporary music – in the past few year’s she’d written the music for Dean Blunt’s opera, Inna, and the gorgeous soundtracks for Jackie, Under the Skin and just recently Delete Beach. She also DJs and is the driving force in Good Sad Happy Bad. She’s no longer the singer, although the group still sound like Micachu & The Shapes. Keyboardist Raisa Khan now fronts the group, with her monotonous, alluring deliveries over wonderfully dysfunctional instrumentation, Levi’s guitar acting as both the bass sound and gnarly lead guitar. The soundcraft is bolstered by a saxophonist who last night made their live debut with the group, adding yet another layer to the glorious cluttered sounds already coming from the stage. That said, Good Sad Happy Bad retain the pretty elements of pop music, with infectious guitar grooves and vocal hooks.
Good Sad Happy Bad are warm-up for the bombast of Warmduscher, who are one of Saul Adamczewski’s many projects. Warmduscher bring a fresh approach to garage rock, with off-kilter electronics, audacious guitar lights and cowboy hats. In cahoots with GSHB, they turn indie into an exciting prospect – they’re sturdy reassurance that guitar music doesn’t have to be a derivate snoozefest.
