The night’s NoisePop lineup at the always intimate and enjoyable Bottom of The Hill was an inspired collection of complementary bands, each unique but playing through similar sugary grooves. We just caught the tail end of the first act, Agouti, but as first acts go, they were delivering capably. The crowd was good and warm by our arrival.
Li Xi
I suspect San Francisco’s Li Xi draws their name from the small red envelopes of “lucky Money” associated with the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It is certainly fitting, for while we do get dreamy French inspired pop — the crisp red envelope as it were – there is also a pleasant surprise just inside. As evinced by “Queen of No Place” a b-side from their 2017 Self-Titled album, the band is making raiding forays into drone and psychedelia.
Live, the whole band is rhythm section, driving deeper beats than you’d expect from their studio work. It’s not a mixing error, no. The sound is tight and crisp, staying true to the dream pop melodies carried by the keys, neither buried, nor out front. Lead singer, Maryanne, holds a gentle focal point with controlled deep toned poppy power around which it all insistently swirls.
Sugar Candy Mountain
Touching base before they head off on a European tour, local journeyman group, Sugar Candy Mountain started their set with power grind “Echopraxia” and fpodbpod cover, “Mamma Fell Asleep” just the show the kids how to blend up dream pop and magic mushrooms like we been doing since they were in art school.
Sugar Candy Mountain recalls nothing to me so much as Electr-O-Pura-era Yo La Tengo. Partners Ash & Will, and the band play comfortably apart on stage, giving each other space to grow their deep and easy layers of sound. They stand back from the audience as well, letting the music lead – surprisingly sophisticated pop, and occasional jaunts into extended psychotomimetic jams.
They offered clarified tracks flowing brightly from a deep catalogue, gradually leaning on the table & slowing toward the midpoint to “Summer of Our Discontent,” an almost Lynchean Los Angeles dirge. From there, they sought crescendo, each track starting with a pop, then approaching dream deep, but running smack into a halting stop, closer and closer until the sound broke into a long cresting down with closer “Tidal Wave.” Fitting.
Anemone
Promoting their new album, Beat My Distance, French-Canadian group Anemone, played the most distilled version of the French power pop that was the through point of the night’s lineup. But with the band drawn it tight around her on stage, Chloe Soldevila lead the most charismatic group of the night, turning gentle swaying to full on dance party.
The band leaned in close as one seamless skin and amped up some shoegaze melodies while she beat like a happy heart within and moved to the crowd with an awkward exuberance that gave everyone permission to move as they felt. No surprises here, but bright and fun – a great antidote to some of our more recent dreary days.
