Persephone’s Bees w/ The Ringers
The Viper Room
West Hollywood, CA
April 4, 2006
By Victoria Joyce (SugarBuzz Hollywood)
Photos By Victoria
It was an early bird special at the Viper Room for the San Francisco rockers, Persephone’s Bees on April’s first Tuesday. And it was pouring down rain. Ooooh, we hate both of those things. But we had to go. We caught the Bees at Cafe Du Nord in SF a few New Year’s Eves ago and they were amazing. No excuses. Grab the slicker and go.
You probably know their song “Nice Day.” Persephone’s Bees caught a break and got one of their songs on a TV commercial for Hilton Hotels. Way cool. “Yeah, that was a nice licensing deal!” was the word from Tom guitar man. A fave band of Nic Harcourt and KCRW; LA’s very influential Pubic Radio station, the Bee’s also got a tune on the soundtrack of the big studio movie, “Bewitched.” Break number two.
Flower Power Punk Pop; The Cowsills meets the Clash is how we hear these guys. “Yeah? I hung out with (the late) Barry Cowsill for a while there. Before, ya know.” We talked briefly with lead guitarist, Tom Ayres. He was a little jumpy. “I got a truck with gear in it.” A man in a hurry. And for good reason. Poor guy had a beautiful guitar recently stolen. (See note at the end.)
They went on at 8p and it was a bit of a short set. Very cute on stage with a billowy blouse and tight vest, fitted pants and tall grey boots, lead singer and keyboardist, Angelina Moysov is quite striking.
Landing somewhere between Karen Carpenter, Chrissie Hynde, Exene Cervenka; Angelina is a haunting beauty with dark under currents with a pretty-pretty highly melodic voice and an existentialist throw-it-away delivery. She plays a boogie-woogie beat on the keyboards back and forth with plinky plank rock piano and freaky far out synthesizer bringing sophistication to the pop-punk sound.
The rest of the band is Beatle cute and razor sharp creases in their jeans. Tom Ayers on guitar with too many pedals too count gets real psychedelic and rock bluesy with his fine playing. Fully-vested bass man, Bart Davenport, was doing the twist at one point. Real style on that one. Paul Bertolino on drums bangs em nice.
Ms Moysov threw in an opener and we didn’t catch the title. It swung. Second song, “Way to your Heart” was a little bit Sparks with it’s hesitation and syncopation. Third song, “Climbing” did. Soaring, swirling guitar solos match note for word about a hike up high. Very Iron Butterfly. Soft spoken Angelina told the small damp crowd “Thank you for coming out on a Tuesday. Please drink up!”
Followed by the commercialized “Nice Day.” Which is. And “Paper Plane” another swirling, soaring, surfy pop hymn. Real slashing guitars on this one. There is a touch of the classical in the Bee’s. “Photo Album” has a touch of the military with a marching beat. Show-standout, “City of Love” ended the show with a groovy funk-a-delic bass line to open and got downright jazzy throughout. Persephone’s Bees goes all over with splicing and stealing styles, themes and motifs. This band is creative and colorful as hell. Very smart music. We loved em.
The rain finally cleared up, just in time for The Ringers. The three Joes and a cousin took the stage looking my-T-fine in their usual fun pop, retro-rag-tag, red-accented, post punk outfits. The Ringers have a look and a presentation that is original and fun. “Kamakaze” was the opener. This is their second residency at the Viper, their first since returning from SXSW. It’s a tie who has more fun, the band or their fans. Always a good time at a Ringers show. Tuesdays in April. We won’t miss a one.
Call for Decency: Tom Ayers of Persephone’s Bees had a beautiful guitar stolen. Please check out the Bee’s website for the details. If you know anything, do the right thing. Squeal. Info on guitar: jon@persephonesbees.com
http://www.persephonesbees.com