BrightestYoungThings: LiveDC: Exit Clov / True Womanhood@Strathmore

all words: Bobby Azarian
all photos: Mike Danko

First off I think I should mention that this show was held at a pretty immaculate venue. Exit Clov certainly couldn’t have picked out a better spot for their record release show. The “mansion” appeared to be more of a contemporary gallery for exhibitions and random happenings than an authentic mansion. Despite the more venue-like feel, its extravagance provided an intimate and welcoming atmosphere. Everyone who attended genuinely seemed to be there because they were interested in hearing live music from a band they sincerely enjoyed, rather than simply being at a show to simply show their face or try and hook up, which seems to be the primary goal of many these days.

It was refreshing to see a younger generation out just to see music.

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I am not extremely familiar with Exit Clov’s material but I had been passed an advanced copy of the CD sometime ago and was very impressed by the musicianship and overall polished sound. Before passing it to someone else, it definitely occupied my cd player for a couple days in a row. And the very same calculated and strongly executed indie-pop songwriting shone through during the live show. The female twins harmonize beautifully at times with identical voices, an unfair advantage provided by their DNA, which also must carry quite a gene complex for musical abilities of all types, given the fact that they seemed to be able to masterfully play any instrument the song called for.

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I would almost say the sound was too polished, and more suited for tasteful commercial licensing. However, the drummer’s seemingly genuine post-punk-y, intricate but raw style balanced out any generic qualities that may have arisen by some of the composition that seemed a bit too contrived or theory-driven. Unfortunately, this would sometimes backfire and result in a miscellaneous sound that didn’t exactly communicate creativity, but rather a longing to be different or ‘weirder’. I’m all for integrating disparate styles that mesh well, and I heard them successfully do this for a number of songs, but some featured a couple of parts that just didn’t seem to quite fit. At least not for a band that has such a mature sound otherwise. So all in all, I think it’s fair to say that Exit Clov makes infectious pop, but are still on the way to refining their sound and becoming memorable. They are certainly musically equipped with the potential for it, with adorable twins as frontwomen who command attention. With a more cohesive sound and an edgier presence, there could be a very bright future for this band.

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True Womahood, on the other hand did what they do best: smart, disconnected artgaze, even though the sound at Strathmore could have been better for a band like this, and as John Foster noted, they don't know how to mic drums which really hurts when you have an inventive player like Noam (far and away my favorite drummer in town.)

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