Went to see a rather special gig this evening: Trumans Water supported by fellow Portland, Oregon two-piece The Bugs, with our very own Shin Jin Rui kicking off proceedings.
The Bugs were stripped down, funny, hard on the ear at first, but soon revealed a slightly manic edge that quickly grew on you. I especially liked the way the singers' voices complemented one another, the constant swapping of instruments and the mangled lyrics about mix tapes and Steve McQueen.
Trumans Water were messy, loud, slap dash, at times dazzlingly precise and restrained, thoroughly brilliant. What they lacked in tightness (the drummer had only been with them for nine days) they made up for in warmth toward the audience, who increasingly got into the whole thing as the set progressed. Although there was only a small crowd of thirty people watching, we bayed for an encore and they rewarded us with three more songs.
On the way out I bought everything by everyone.