A dull, gloomy Monday evening on the back of six days of forty degree heat doesn't really provide much in the way of relief. Sometimes all that’s left after the blaze is hollowed out exhaustion. Jinja Safari tried their best to lift the vibe tonight, throwing as much as they could muster at an audience seemingly quite content to just stand around and enjoy the air conditioning.
They’re a strikingly solid live act, and in the right setting (i.e. Peat's Ridge) could be suitably energizing, providing one doesn’t think too hard about the occasional painfully naff lyric. Tonight though their single-minded insistence on the upbeat (the bongo player in particular working himself into a cheerfully oblivious frenzy), coupled with their Peter Gabriel-esque ‘World Music’ veneer (Pepa Knight’s sitar on ‘Peter Pan’ being merely the most obvious example) couldn’t help but fall flat. After a while the ecstatic can’t help but seem forced – or worse, boring.
No such criticism could ever be levelled at Menomena, every song being crammed to bursting with musical ideas. The aggregated loops that comprise their recorded material were transfigured tonight into a tightly honed and fully realised live performance, each element fitting together with atomic clock precision. Presenting material from Friend or Foe (with the notable exception of ‘Evil Bee’ to the chagrin of an annoyingly persistent fan) as well as some of the juiciest tracks from last year’s monumental Mines, the Portland trio (or quartet as they were this evening) were electrifying.
With long-time guitar/sax/vocalist Brent Knopf’s impending (and acrimonious) departure from the group, it wasn’t surprising that intra-band relations were strained. A headcold afflicted Knopf looked haggard, repeatedly slipping back of stage to blow his nose – and throwing his handkerchief around near an apparently shattered Danny Seim, who took none too kindly to such antics occurring anywhere near his drumkit.
When channelled into the music however, such tensions produced a wrenching spectacle, the band pouring their all – Seim particularly transforming himself from a motor-powered demon to a listless bundle of swear-drenched rags between songs – into a music as seamless and original as they are capable of. No wonder they no longer seem to hold anything but a sour tolerance for each other. Aside from remaining dates in other capitals this was probably the last chance for Australian audiences to see this group perform with all founding members intact. A privilege.
Showing posts with label Jinja Safari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jinja Safari. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Jinja Safari - Jinja Safari EP
Jinja Safari
Jinga Safari EP
***1/2
Sydney’s Jinja Safari don’t seem to be the sort of folks to mess around. The band consists of soulfully-bearded sorts Marcus Azon and Pepa Knight, and has been in existence for less than eight months – yet they managed to swing the rather neat trick of winning triple j’s Unearthed Splendour competition, netting them the privilege of opening the festival a few weeks back. Not too bad for a local group that performed its first show at the beginning of May.
Not that the pair are quite the greenhorns the PR line suggests. 21-year-old Knight released a solo album Start late last year, which stood him in good stead for producing the lush, exuberant sound typical of Jinja Safari’s self-titled debut EP. As with recent stuff from groups like the Ruby Suns or Vampire Weekend, Jinja Safari reeks of the influence of Graceland-era Paul Simon, although the spectre of Peter Gabriel also seems to hover at the edge of the firelight… Cue the sound of synthesized pan flutes.
In practice this simply means: tribal beatz, the twanging waft of sitar and delicate arching harmonies that seem to speak of morning light and crisp mountain air – all very North-Coast NSW really. First single ‘Peter Pan’ is a case in point; bells, chimes and handclaps supporting an effortlessly optimistic lyric (‘love has come at last / leave your sorrows in the past / dancing in the rain’).
It’s all very life affirming, to be sure – and it’ll be interesting to see if the fellas can muster up a bit more depth for the long player which is undoubtedly in the works. In the meantime, go see them live – it’ll be a blast.
First published in The Brag, Iss. 376, August 23rd 2010
Jinga Safari EP
***1/2
Sydney’s Jinja Safari don’t seem to be the sort of folks to mess around. The band consists of soulfully-bearded sorts Marcus Azon and Pepa Knight, and has been in existence for less than eight months – yet they managed to swing the rather neat trick of winning triple j’s Unearthed Splendour competition, netting them the privilege of opening the festival a few weeks back. Not too bad for a local group that performed its first show at the beginning of May.
Not that the pair are quite the greenhorns the PR line suggests. 21-year-old Knight released a solo album Start late last year, which stood him in good stead for producing the lush, exuberant sound typical of Jinja Safari’s self-titled debut EP. As with recent stuff from groups like the Ruby Suns or Vampire Weekend, Jinja Safari reeks of the influence of Graceland-era Paul Simon, although the spectre of Peter Gabriel also seems to hover at the edge of the firelight… Cue the sound of synthesized pan flutes.
In practice this simply means: tribal beatz, the twanging waft of sitar and delicate arching harmonies that seem to speak of morning light and crisp mountain air – all very North-Coast NSW really. First single ‘Peter Pan’ is a case in point; bells, chimes and handclaps supporting an effortlessly optimistic lyric (‘love has come at last / leave your sorrows in the past / dancing in the rain’).
It’s all very life affirming, to be sure – and it’ll be interesting to see if the fellas can muster up a bit more depth for the long player which is undoubtedly in the works. In the meantime, go see them live – it’ll be a blast.
First published in The Brag, Iss. 376, August 23rd 2010
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