‘A Feisty, Feisty Piece of Little Heaven’
By Holly Roach
For some reason I have managed to hide under a rock over Bearkat’s The Happy EP birth into the world which does not make for a Happy Holly…Not till now that is…I may be 2 months behind the times but hey I’m fashionably late me.
I have to say that downloading and listening to the EP for the first time at 3:30 in the morning, strangely awake, wrapped up in a duvet cocoon with headphones on and eyes peacefully closed makes for an excellent introduction. Not that we were all completely strangers you must understand though. Thanks to the powers of youtube some of the songs I had already had the pleasure of hearing and indeed seeing from videos of the lady herself performing live on tour with her travelling band of merry men (minus the tights…I think…) aka Paul Starling on guitar and vocals, Kent Arnold on drums and Nick Sweet returning from Bearkat’s last album tour on trombone and other brassy goodness (though it has to be said they all do seem to know how to turn their hand to any needed instrument.)
With my review of Bearkat’s last, and début cd ‘Suitcase Swimmers’ 2 years ago I think I made it pretty well clear I love the ladies lilt so what of the distance of years? Well plainly put- Their is none.
The Happy is indeed an altogether briefer affair than its predecessor but stop right there if you think that makes for anything bad (other than in an Oliver ‘Please Bearkat can I have some more’ kind of a way.)
The classic points of delight from any knowledge of Bearkat’s back catalogue remain- The handclaps (Lord do I love a good handclap!), the glockenspiel, the pleasantly sombre lyrics, the ukulele of course, the folk spirit, did I mention the handclaps? A good old bit of tambourine and of course that voice of Miss Katy Pearson’s.
In my humble opinion the highlights of the album, that frankly is all one mass of different hues has to go to the 60’s beauty of ‘Through Loving You’ which after a listen or two I defy you to not sing along to! Also hats off to ‘Girl with the Broken Heart’ from its independent start to its metaly end, and hello do I hear spoons? My granddaddy would be so happy, god rest his soul!
On ‘Sugar and the Sea’ Bearkat also gets a little delightfully manly company from her touring buddy Mister Paul Starling halving the responsibilities of the song and making for a great number. (Note Holly does have a huge soft spot for male/lady vocal mixes in songs.)
I honestly am waiting (and it’s been around 5 years so far) to hear a song from this girl that I don’t like…Wait, well actually no I don’t want to hear such a thing but you get my point I am sure. Everything I have ever heard from her I have been sold on from the start, in a musical Jerry Maguire style. Holly is just patiently waiting for the day I can beam about how amazing ’Marie’ is on an album to you. Seriously. And for those impatient ones amongst you don’t even wait for the album, and indeed its review get watching this youtube video of it live off her last tour. It will rock your heart, if you have one!
http://www.youtube.com/user/merstone20#p/u/7/dSnybvS8nrk
P.S How beautifully lit/shot is that thing hey! I do love a bit of black and white :)
As a writer, and more so as a lover of writing and words in general as good as the songs sound I always appreciate the poetry of Bearkat’s songs. (Yes I am one of those people who think song lyrics can be poetry. Not you know a Kylie song probably but please try and argue that Lenard Cohen and the such is not poetry to music, go on try it, I will laugh in your face, possibly poke you in the eye and then disown you…probably…) Pearson studied song writing at Berklee College of Music so I‘m sure that helps her out on the lyrical front. A song needs to and should sound good of course but a well thought out quality lyric behind the music packed with a good story to it just makes the whole thing a million times better, and Bearkat is frankly a f*ing rich millionaire in that respect, with very deep pockets still to fill.
Track Listings
1. The Happy
2. Through Loving You
3. Sugar and the Sea
4. The Happy II
5. Cocaine in All of Our Eyes
6. Girl With The Broken Heart
7. The Happy III
8. Oh Henry
Websites to check out for Bearkat goodness-
Katy Pearson (aka Bearkat)
- For The Happy- http://www.bearkatbandcamp.com/
- Blog extravaganza (including fab song covers & delicious Bearkat cookie recipe) -
http://www.bearkat.blogspot.com/
- Invade her space- www.myspace.com/bearkatmusic
- And even get up in her face on Facebook too on the fan page
Mister Paul Starling’s details-
- http://www.paulstarling.blogspot.com/
- http://www.paulstarling.bandcamp.com/ (including some swell tracks free to download)
Nick Sweet land-
- www.myspace.com/nicksprojects
Note: All photographs from Bearkat’s Facebook page by her friend and 2010 tour photographer Meredith Stone (The video is also from Meredith’s youtube channel).
http://www.meredithstonephotography.com/
The End.
By Holly Roach
I have to say that downloading and listening to the EP for the first time at 3:30 in the morning, strangely awake, wrapped up in a duvet cocoon with headphones on and eyes peacefully closed makes for an excellent introduction. Not that we were all completely strangers you must understand though. Thanks to the powers of youtube some of the songs I had already had the pleasure of hearing and indeed seeing from videos of the lady herself performing live on tour with her travelling band of merry men (minus the tights…I think…) aka Paul Starling on guitar and vocals, Kent Arnold on drums and Nick Sweet returning from Bearkat’s last album tour on trombone and other brassy goodness (though it has to be said they all do seem to know how to turn their hand to any needed instrument.)
With my review of Bearkat’s last, and début cd ‘Suitcase Swimmers’ 2 years ago I think I made it pretty well clear I love the ladies lilt so what of the distance of years? Well plainly put- Their is none.
The Happy is indeed an altogether briefer affair than its predecessor but stop right there if you think that makes for anything bad (other than in an Oliver ‘Please Bearkat can I have some more’ kind of a way.)
The classic points of delight from any knowledge of Bearkat’s back catalogue remain- The handclaps (Lord do I love a good handclap!), the glockenspiel, the pleasantly sombre lyrics, the ukulele of course, the folk spirit, did I mention the handclaps? A good old bit of tambourine and of course that voice of Miss Katy Pearson’s.
In my humble opinion the highlights of the album, that frankly is all one mass of different hues has to go to the 60’s beauty of ‘Through Loving You’ which after a listen or two I defy you to not sing along to! Also hats off to ‘Girl with the Broken Heart’ from its independent start to its metaly end, and hello do I hear spoons? My granddaddy would be so happy, god rest his soul!
On ‘Sugar and the Sea’ Bearkat also gets a little delightfully manly company from her touring buddy Mister Paul Starling halving the responsibilities of the song and making for a great number. (Note Holly does have a huge soft spot for male/lady vocal mixes in songs.)
I honestly am waiting (and it’s been around 5 years so far) to hear a song from this girl that I don’t like…Wait, well actually no I don’t want to hear such a thing but you get my point I am sure. Everything I have ever heard from her I have been sold on from the start, in a musical Jerry Maguire style. Holly is just patiently waiting for the day I can beam about how amazing ’Marie’ is on an album to you. Seriously. And for those impatient ones amongst you don’t even wait for the album, and indeed its review get watching this youtube video of it live off her last tour. It will rock your heart, if you have one!
http://www.youtube.com/user/merstone20#p/u/7/dSnybvS8nrk
P.S How beautifully lit/shot is that thing hey! I do love a bit of black and white :)
As a writer, and more so as a lover of writing and words in general as good as the songs sound I always appreciate the poetry of Bearkat’s songs. (Yes I am one of those people who think song lyrics can be poetry. Not you know a Kylie song probably but please try and argue that Lenard Cohen and the such is not poetry to music, go on try it, I will laugh in your face, possibly poke you in the eye and then disown you…probably…) Pearson studied song writing at Berklee College of Music so I‘m sure that helps her out on the lyrical front. A song needs to and should sound good of course but a well thought out quality lyric behind the music packed with a good story to it just makes the whole thing a million times better, and Bearkat is frankly a f*ing rich millionaire in that respect, with very deep pockets still to fill.
The girl could probably frankly sing the phonebook, or heavens even a Madonna song and make them sound good for once. The girl has talent. The girl has style (and not just cause of that lovely dress!). The girl has a great EP in The Happy and has a very happy customer/ fan in me. So do yourself a favour and get those fingers working and head on over to http://www.bearkatbandcamp.com/ to get yourself a copy of the album.
For a measly $10 (roughly £6, any other currency sorry but you’ll have to do your own maths, Holly‘s brain can only do so much you know!) you can download yourself a copy of the cd and indeed listen to all the tracks in their beautiful entirety, you know if you are an untrusting fool who doesn’t believe a word I say or something! If you see the lady herself on tour you can even get your very own physical copy too so you can point and prod at the cutest cover artwork ever.
Track Listings
1. The Happy
2. Through Loving You
3. Sugar and the Sea
4. The Happy II
5. Cocaine in All of Our Eyes
6. Girl With The Broken Heart
7. The Happy III
8. Oh Henry
Websites to check out for Bearkat goodness-
Katy Pearson (aka Bearkat)
- For The Happy- http://www.bearkatbandcamp.com/
- Blog extravaganza (including fab song covers & delicious Bearkat cookie recipe) -
http://www.bearkat.blogspot.com/
- Invade her space- www.myspace.com/bearkatmusic
- And even get up in her face on Facebook too on the fan page
Mister Paul Starling’s details-
- http://www.paulstarling.blogspot.com/
- http://www.paulstarling.bandcamp.com/ (including some swell tracks free to download)
Nick Sweet land-
- www.myspace.com/nicksprojects
Note: All photographs from Bearkat’s Facebook page by her friend and 2010 tour photographer Meredith Stone (The video is also from Meredith’s youtube channel).
http://www.meredithstonephotography.com/
The End.
2 comments:
great article!
Thanks Mister Starling, glad you like it :) Hope I got all the details about the lot of you right :)
Post a Comment