Review: Tu Fawning at Cargo
Published on May 31st, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
It’s uncommon for a band to boast excellent stage presence right across the board, but Portland four-piece Tu Fawning pack a live show that adds a whole new dimension of mesmerising to the darkly exotic sound of their recent second LP A Monument.
Vocal duties are in the main handled by the commanding, bewitching Corrina Repp and the whirlwind of intensely focused energy that is Joe Haege – in fact, he reminds somewhat of Deerhoof lynchpin Greg Saunier – and the line-up is completed by Toussaint Perrault, whose preppy attire and menacing facial expressions bring to mind a sinister Hugh Laurie (he even thanks his attendant buddies from Norwich University with an hilariously deadpan “hello, mates”), and the dazzlingly elegant Liza Rietz, who herself strikes as a sort of classically trained Liz Hurley. Each of them swap instruments during the show, and each are utterly compelling in their own way, not least when Repp replaces Haege behind the drums and attacks them with every bit as much thunder and panache.
Performing a mix of songs from A Monument and 2010 debut Hearts on Hold, Tu Fawning have the crowd well and truly in thrall to them with such otherworldly yet singalongable (it’s a word now) numbers as “Anchor”, “Blood Stains”, and so grand do they sound in this intimate setting that it’s tempting to wonder what they’d be like on a festival main stage with a major label budget behind them. Alas, this isn’t exactly chart fodder, so we may never know.
If you get a chance to catch this lot live then Rocksucker thoroughly recommends doing so – and we’re not just saying that because we’re still feeling a bit hypnotised.
Rocksucker says: Four and a Half Quails out of Five!
A Monument is out now on City Slang. For more information, including a list of live dates, please visit tufawning.com
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
