Haim at KCLSU

Haim
Death At Sea
King's College London Student Union, 14 November 2012

Death At Sea are a pretty typical support band. An indie band from Liverpool with one single to their name, they actually sound far more polished than you'd expect from a group that's only been together mere months. Still their sound is pretty unremarkable, not terrible just overly familiar. For me the most interesting thing about them is the way they were dressed: like something out of an 80s movie. The singer was clearly channeling Springsteen, satorially speaking, sporting a denim jacket, with the arms cut off and plaid shirt over a t-shirt. The only thing missing was the bandana and mullet hair, instead disappointingly he had the fashionable One Direction/Justin Bieber hair. I guess the kids may love them.

Haim, on the other hand, are something completely different. A pop band comprised of three sisters from California who look like something out of a 70s movie with their waist-length hair parted in the middle, they combine elements of R&B with folk rock to unique effect. They've only released an EP (Forever) and a single (Don't Save Me) so far but even with so few releases to their name they still are one of the most interesting bands to emerge this year and certainly the most promising. Also, you know what a sucker I am for girl bands especially ones who are so adept at their instruments.

Arriving on stage just before 10pm, it was clear this was going to be a short show (well, not so surprisingly I guess given they haven't released an album yet) and the youngest Haim, Alana, bounded on stage, skipping towards her keyboards wearing a baggy t-shirt and short jean cut-offs. Her sisters followed her on laughing: Este, the bassist and the eldest, wearing a flowery dress and Danielle, the tomboyish lead singer and guitarist and definitely the coolest one, wearing a well-worn t-shirt and jeans complete with holes (apparently that old look is back sadly, still she looks badass). Starting off with the first song from their EP, Better Off, a track filled with cool harmonies and driving rhythms, the girls took up drumsticks and pounded along with the drummer to startling effect. It turns out that not only can they sing and play guitar and keyboards, they are also pretty mean drummers too, managing to keep up the tribal rhythm while harmonising.

The rest of the set had a few songs I hadn't heard before but they certainly weren't disappointing, sounding as good as their few officially released tracks so far and of course, new single Don't Save Me, which they admitted they hadn't really played before, sounded fantastic. As good as these were one of the absolute highlights for me was the band's one cover song of the night: Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well. That's right, Peter Green's classic meeting of rock and blues and Danielle pulled off the cool riff in style. It's pretty awesome to see a girl who can play as well as the guys and more than handle a guitar classic such as Oh Well. Of the three Este was definitely the most talkative, chatting with the crowd, attempting to get a place for the band to stay for the night (jokingly I hope) and reflecting on her little sister's way too short shorts, while Alana was super excited about playing London, bless her: "this is the one show I've been waiting for!" she exclaimed. Danielle spoke just once and it was to introduce the song that got them noticed, Forever, "the reason why we're here" she says and it's true because Forever goes down the best with the audience, and they sing along like it's an old classic, everyone seeming to know every word. Pretty impressive for such a new band really.

The final song was another unfamiliar track, Let Me Go, although apparently they've been playing it live for a while. It saw them returning to the drums but not before a pretty awesome bit of guitar soloing from Danielle. She then placed her Gibson SG on the floor and took up her drumsticks and, along with her sisters, ended the song with the three of them creating a loud tribal rhythm. What a great way to end a show. I really can't wait to see what they do next.