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Although they played second I wanted to leave @girlfiendmusic until the end — they were the reason I was there. It would be easy to look at the names on the bill and think of this band as a reconstituted Shaylee — but I think that would miss the point. The real story of this band is Robin Cook stepping up.
Bassist in all but one of the Shaylee shows I’ve seen over the past seven months, Girl Fiend sees Robin taking center stage with lead guitar, vocals, and half of the songwriting duties. Classically trained with equally good pop sensibilities Robin’s stage presence radiates a vulnerable strength and, when called for, joy.
With Robin on lead guitar, Elle Archer is freed up to fall deep into things like synthesizer holes (the true fate of all girls) and then emerge with one of those blistering solos. The solos are less frequent than in the Shaylee days and they’re all the more potent for it.
These are all new songs, and it’s hard to take in the full weight of the stories without an E.P. or lyrics sheet but the snippets I caught are as haunting as ever — quiet/loud/quiet — sad/joyful/sad.
Less prominent but no less important was the rhythm section — drummer @dannygavingray carries over from Shaylee’s last show at the Fixin’ To and is joined by @slopepork of @blushbuttonband fame on bass. Both provide the sort of unpretentious and too often unheralded rhythm and harmonies that lay the foundation for Robin and Elle to build on. Also, Danny had the gayest pants I’ve ever seen and I suspect Heather has a secret stratagem to single-handedly bringing about a peasant dress revival.
I will miss Shaylee — the universe dropped that band in front of me in a time and place that I both really needed and that I’ll never forget. But everything changes — and trying to keep things how they always were is almost always a recipe for a slow sad decline. There’s so much potential in this new band and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can do.