_{By Zach Collier}

You never know what you’re going to get on the first night of Velour’s Battle of the Bands. While every night is expertly curated, Monday is always hit or miss due to nerves, a cold audience, and coming off of the weekend. Although a little light on attendance, this is one of the better Mondays I’ve seen at this event.

Mel Soul & The Heartbeat

Mel Soul & The Heartbeat were a perfect opener for the night, and for the week as a whole. Mel Soul’s voice is remarkably consistent. You can tell she’s put in years of work, gigging hard on these songs week after week. It felt like she could sing them in her sleep. Absolutely nothing was lacking with her delivery – great pitch, great tone, great diction, great dynamics. She’s a gem and is sorely underutilized in the scene.

The band was rhythmically tight, and the bassist and the drummer really held it down. The harmonies were good, and they earned several spontaneous cheers from the crowd.

The only issue with their set was that the arrangements for every song, while functional, were all very similar. The tones, the song structures, the rhythms — they all started to blend together after a while, and they all felt a little too safe.

I don’t want this to be construed as a slam on their songwriting. The songs felt familiar in a way that coming home after a long trip feels familiar. They were fun, they were breezy, they were comfortable. Mel Soul & The Heartbeat do what they do well. But in a competition of this nature, you need something that rises above — something that sets you apart and really thrills the audience in an undeniable way. This was a solid, functional set, but not groundbreaking.

I feel like the easiest fix for them is switching tones from song to song. Mel plays an acoustic guitar, which is at the core of their sound and I don’t think that should change. But throwing some distinct reverbs or subtle choruses on her guitar could add a little variety from song to song. The lead guitarist played with a really palatable, pleasant, clean tone all set. Figuring out when to add delay and a touch of drive or distortion (their sound does not call for much) would add some flare and intrigue from section to section and song to song.

Whatever they’re interested in, whatever resonates with them, I want them to go for it. They’re more than good enough, and I feel like loosening up and diving in to that extra something will really take them to the next level. 

Brother O Mine

Almost as if to prove my point, Brother O Mine came out swinging with great tones. Like Mel Soul & The Heartbeat, their music was rhythmically tight and arranged simply (although their stuff was clearly a different genre and felt very Deseret Vibe Rock tbh. Very spacious, very groovy). Brother O Mine knows how to add complexity that the average listener wouldn’t be able to pinpoint but can FEEL, and they accomplish that with tone.

Their first number began as a chill, clean track before dropping into a distorted, heavy groove. That heavy groove was still simple, but by changing their textures, it added that extra oomph. And the textures changed from song to song: some were dry and present, others were spacious and verby. It kept things engaging and exciting. 

I thoroughly enjoyed their set. I love their songwriting style, and I love their dual vocalists. However, the biggest drawback for me was their stage presence. Not when they were playing, mind you. It came during the transitions from one song to the next. The transitions were really long, and most of the time was filled with unplanned banter that didn’t quite land with the audience (though I thought the story about falling from the second story window was very funny. H*ckin Mondays, man. Tough crowd). Because of this, it drained some of the magic from the performance.

In the future, I’d love for these guys to be more intentional about how they move from song to song. Even just keeping transitions to 10-15 seconds would fix a lot. Mel Soul & The Heartbeat may not have had an arsenal of tones, but their transitions were very functional. Not flashy or engaging, but they clicked along quickly and jumped right back into the music. Brother O Mine has a keys player (and a good one at that). Using the keyboardist and drummer to fill space in exciting, intentional ways while the guitarists tune is an easy way to fix the transition problem.

Given the fact that this lineup is pretty fresh (their keyboardist and bassist are new to the group) but each musician has been playing in other groups in the scene for a while, I’m confident they’ll get it all settled and figured out in no time. Brother O Mine is a band to watch. I loved their music. 

Fur Foxen

This band is super unique. The way they were placed on stage made them really fun to watch. It gave the effect of watching them play in a circle with just enough room to peek through. The drums, instead of being centered, were off to the left. The bassist was angled in towards the drums, and the lead vocalist/guitarist was angled in to face the e-cellist.

That’s right. Electric, wireless cellist.

All of them moved in such an organic and fun way, playing off of each others’ energy and stage presence. It was so fun to watch. Their first song was really epic, and hooked me instantly. Their vocalist was a cool mix between Johnny Cash and David Byrne of The Talking Heads, and I’m so here for it.

Unfortunately, the second song started off with a guitar either out of tune or with the capo on the wrong fret, and they had to restart. Even after restarting, tuning/harmonic problems persisted for the entire duration of the song and never quite locked. It was such a bummer, because the first number really thrilled me.

To Fur Foxen’s credit, the rest of the set definitely improved after that. But the set didn’t quite get back to that first song’s energy and cohesiveness until their last number. I definitely love Fur Foxen and want to see them again, but because of that second song, they just couldn’t move on to the finals.

They had the tones, they had the stage presence, but they lacked what made Mel Soul & The Heartbeat and Brother O Mine so good. Mel Soul and Brother O Mine’s sets were musically very solid and well performed, which is far more important than style or transitions. It goes to show that you need to hit the sweet spot between form and function. I will be seeing Fur Foxen again very soon, though. Cool band.

Ferrin

Ferrin has an amazing blend of jazzy clean tones, pop rhythms, horn riffs, great hooks, and tight male/female harmonies. Jared Ferrin’s voice has a smooth, jazzy warble while still sitting solidly in the modern indie pocket, and their female singer, Alice, has a folky charm that’s spiritually (but not necessarily sonically, idk you decide) akin to Laura Marling during her Noah And The Whale Days. Genre-wise, the whole thing feels quasi Rex Orange County in the best way. Very fun. Fans of Laufey and early Lawrence would be equally delighted. 

Their transitions were interesting, planned (but not forced), and flowed effortlessly from one song to the next. These guys were professional as h*ck, with no noticeable flubs or technical challenges. While every band tonight had their strengths (Mel’s tight performance, Brother O Mine’s tones and arrangements, Fur Foxen’s style and stage presence) Ferrin had the strengths of all three of their competitors with zero downside. It was a charming, fun set. 

These guys included rhythmic variation; planned moments like having instruments drop out for exposed vocals; and great tonal variation. Their secret sauce? Their auxiliary instrumentalist. He split attention between saxophone and organ, and he knew how to maximize both instruments in engaging ways.

Alice’s stylistic choices as a backup vocalist shouldn’t go unnoticed, either. She didn’t just sing thirds above Jared all night. She methodically switched between harmonies, call and response, doubling, and gang vocals. Her vocal choices made her a vital part of Ferrin’s vibe. It was great.

At the end of the night, Velour’s resident, beloved sound engineer Michael McKenzie took the stage to announce the winner of night 1: Ferrin.

Velour’s Winter 2023 Battle of the Bands returns tonight at 7:30 PM. JolleyTime, Afternoon All Night, Frantic Memories, and bellagrace will perform. Tickets are $10 at the door. While you’re waiting for the show to start, check out “Too Long” by Brother O Mine.