Bettie Serveert’s Palomine was possibly the first Indie Rock rock record I ever bought. It was either that or Liz Phair’s _Ecstasy in Guyville_. Well at least Matador Indie Rock. I was instantly hooked on both artists and got to catch numerous Bettie Serveert shows when they rolled though town. I still remember when they opened for
Buffalo Tom at the Palace (now the Avalon) and, even after the soundman turned up the house music, the crowd still wouldn’t stop cheering for an encore. Apparently Buffalo Tom heard all this backstage and told them to get up there for one more. That was one night I was definitely proud of Los Angeles.
BS makes the rounds every year or two and I make it a point to catch them when they pass through town. This time around they stopped at Spaceland which was a good fit. We missed The Parson Redheads but lucked out to catch some of The Minor Canon, who I’ve been diggin’ for a while. Everything seemed quite a bit polished since the last time I had seen them play. The songs are great and I really dig the “old time bank robbers” vibe and horn section. They even broke into a bit of a Wolf Parade cover toward the end of one of their songs which sounded great. I’m voting for more edge and less polish. They’ve got some great cuts on their myspace page and you should head over and check them out.
Bettie was on next led by perennial frontwoman Carol Van Dijk. The setlist covered just about every album they’ve put out. My personal favorite for the night was “Private Suit”. The swirling guitar and the lyrics “don’t worry about me, ’cause you can’t please everyone” struck a chord in me that plastered a smile on my face and brought tears to my eyes. (Ok, extended side not here. I cry more out of happiness than sadness. It sounds so damn sappy to say that a song brings you to tears but, isn’t that the reason we love music so much? Anyone got my back on this?) . The new album, _Bare Stripped Naked_ on Minty Fresh has some great classic-style Bettie tracks. “Hell = Other People” is a good sing along and “Storm” crescendo’s into bliss-land. They have a new drummer in the band from Italy and he helped out with on pitch backup vocals which was quite nice.
So what it really comes down to is I’m a sucker for Bettie Serveert. They’ve amassed one hell of a catchy pop-rock catalog and I’ll always be a fan. So…..hope to catch ya at the next show. Maybe they’ll rock a 10+ minute version of “Brain-tag” for an encore like they used to in the old days.
