Friday, April 12, 2013

Band Review: Bair


There’s a photo of Bair on their Facebook page, and it sits above their song files as I listen.  As I look at it, without being really good at ages, they look like nice kids – bright and good-natured and clean-cut.

There are two things that reinforce their youth for me as I listen to them, even though they probably aren’t really that young compared to other bands, and perhaps just look young to me because I am so old.

One is their earnestness. Their songs are passionate and strong and meaningful. Perhaps they have not yet plumbed the depths that some other bands have, but at the same time I don’t find any cynicism. When they sing “We’re gonna die here” in “Turn to Earth”, I don’t hear existential despair, or transcendence, but still, they mean it, and they are earnest.

The other element of that youth, then, is that they seem to have a lot of potential. The songs they have now are very solid, but it’s a small catalog, and I suspect there is a lot more in them.

To some extent there is a coffee shop vibe, with the seriousness and the playing for love, but they are a bit more theatrical than that, and a bit funkier, honestly. They do have some groove.

Of course, this is a four piece combo, and they do have keyboards and electronics, so it’s not just two people with acoustic guitars, and that helps fill out the sound. A lot of the groove comes from how they use the keyboards, though that is not all of it.

In addition, singer Leah Marie has an interesting vocal quality. She is frequently joined by the rest of the band in a chorus adding power, but it seems that they will always sound unique with her.

And ultimately, they are just babies. They have four songs, which you can buy on iTunes or listen to on Facebook. They have a domain for a web page, with nothing on it yet. They are new, but with potential. Check out those four songs.



Yes, I am aware of this band because they followed me on Twitter.

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