Beak>, an electronic band made up of Geoff Barrow (Portishead), Billy Fuller (Robert Plant) and Will Young (Moon Gangs), from England stopped by KEXP to celebrate their new release, >>>. This was their US debut live performance of the new album.
All three band members were seriously witty and hard to keep up with while they were cracking jokes. Perfectionists - the band used the full hour and a half before their live performance to sound check, and even re-taped one of the songs to fix a section they didn’t like from the live set.
>>>, the band’s third release, is an album with an intricate blend of psychedelic melodies. The vocals are not aggressive, but when present, there is a definite message. In “Brean Down,” the band comments on the future being sketchy. Also, the following lyrics from the same song struck an ironic chord while being performed live on KEXP: “You don’t like our music cause it ain’t up on the radio”.
On a random and more personal note, I was surprised that one of the sound technicians with Beak> I recognized immediately as the Foals sound technician as well, named Reuben. Foals are my absolute favorite band, so it was a nice surprise to see the familiar face and ask some general questions about their yet to be released 5th album that I’ve been eagerly waiting for.
Geoff Barrow of Beak> (drums and vocals) is not only known for his work in Portishead, but also for his movie scores. My boyfriend tagged along for this instudio and happily got his Annihilation and Ex Machina vinyls autographed as well.
Watch the entire KEXP performance below - and if you watch closely you might spot me take photos with the video crew!: