To the Ruby Lounge with 'er indoors to see and hear Nashville's Silver Seas. A Twitter comment by Danny Baker, whom God preserve, led me to check this group out, and their work has had, as they say, heavy rotation chez Topsyturvydom since. The line-up for this tour is the core members Daniel Tashian as the front man and guitarist and Jason Lehning on keyboards, with a rhythm section of the impressively bearded Lex Price on bass, and David Gehrke on drums. And they can play! In the awkward space of the Ruby lounge, they soon had a an audience of, shall we say, largely mature people bouncing around and singing out as they ran through a selection of songs mainly from the Chateau Revenge album.
The music is bright, intelligent pop. There's nothing particularly demanding about it, but Tashian certainly knows how to construct a memorable song, with lyrics that are by turns urbane and wistful. The music is characterised by driving guitars, often ethereal keyboard sounds, and occasional Beach Boy-esque harmonies. The songs have melodies, hooks, and rarely last more than three minutes or so - perfect pop songs, in other words.
Half way through the gig, Tashian announced they had worked up a cover version, and launched into an upbeat rendition of Daydream Believer, accompanied lustily by the audience, in commemoration of the Mancunian Davy Jones. A perfect choice.
My friend Knappsterino often films at venues like this down in Bristol. I noticed several people doing just that, so doubtless the results will be up on YouTube soon. Meanwhile, someone posted a bit of Daydream Believer from the Glasgow gig: