Fans of Kate Nash who flocked to the Black Cat on March 23 to get their dose of alternative Brit pop were in for a surprise — Nash’s sound has become significantly more punk than before.
Opening for Nash was Supercute!, a bubbly pop band from New York City. The band, composed of four girls in their late teens, still sounds a bit young. Supercute! began its set with “Love Love Leave Love,” a song off its upcoming debut album, produced by Kate Nash. Their stage presence seemed a bit forced, and at times, their vocals sounded out of tune with the instrumentation. However, they still showed some creative promise in their set.
Nash began her set with “Sister” off her new album, “Girl Talk.” Those that listened to her previous albums “Made of Bricks” and “My Best Friend is You” will find Nash’s new album a bit surprising. Not only has she moved to a much darker sound in “Girl Talk,” she also experiments with different genres.
The songs were punctuated by some of Nash’s charming anecdotes. One of them, involving a toilet, fried chicken and an awards ceremony led to the creation of Nash’s first punk song “Model Behaviour.” Though it is one of her older songs, “Model Behaviour” shows Nash’s ability to switch genres with ease.
However, she did not just temper the concert with fun anecdotes. She also discussed more serious topics, such as the Pussy Riot imprisonment.
This discussion led Nash into the opening bars of “Free My Pussy,” a song inspired by the riots. Though the title and inspiration might lead to the assumption that this is one of Nash’s brasher songs, it is quite the opposite. This extremely mellow and acoustic song dedicated to those that have felt trapped ends with a surprising but fun chorus of meowing.
Continuing Nash’s theme of girl power, her tour is being sponsored by the charity Because I Am a Girl, which works to give girls in developing countries access to education.
Though Nash did focus on her newer repertoire, she did please fans with old favorites such as “Mariella” and “Kiss That Grrrl.” And, of course, she performed her first hit, “Foundations,” prefacing it by saying, “There’s no excuse for you guys not to sing along!” Nash didn’t have to say that twice; the audience eagerly echoed her every lyric.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
