What a silly name Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny
is. It’s a good job that we are fond of silliness, and that they’re
really good. Their recent gig at Hoxton Bar and Grill opened with a set
from the lovely Goodnight Lenin. They enchanted us with complex
harmonies and storytelling lyrics, though their
black-trousers-and-white-shirt outfits gave them a hint of ‘overgrown
schoolboy’ which didn’t do them justice.
Beth has a teeny little frame which is offset by her enormous
candyfloss hair and her enormous, mischievous character. While her
lyrics are undeniably curious (who can honestly say they’ve dreamt of
dodecahedrons?) the hearty melodies on her album ‘Yours Truly,
Cellophane Nose’ make some of the songs surprisingly emotional. We may
be prone to getting teary but still, being able to make us feel warm and
fuzzy inside while singing ‘Lilliput your hand in mine’ is a pretty
special skill.
The Hooves are a funny bunch. One looks a bit like he should be in a
ska band, one is more indie, one like he might be in The Bees and
finally there’s a violin who is a doctor by day. Throw Beth into the mix
and you’ve got quite a variety of tastes (we’re assuming – apologies to
the band if actually they all exclusively like Steeleye Span or
something) which might explain how their genre is so hard to pin.
Let’s just not pin it at all. Beth and the Hooves make full, rich
music with rousing tunes and nonsensical lyrics. Her vocals rumble then
soar in all the right places, and their accompaniment and harmonies
frame them beautifully. The newest single, ‘Sweet Tooth Bird’, is a
great showcase for all of this, with its marching drums, trumpets and
frantic, chanting middle bit. To finish, the band was joined by
Goodnight Lenin, and together they managed a spectacular cover of ‘Like a
Prayer’, complete with the boys doing the gospel choir’s parts, a
mirror ball and a dance contest. Madonna herself would have approved,
and we bloody loved it.
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Author: Ashleigh
Source: For Folk's Sake
Date: March 14, 2012
Original article: HERE
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