Monday, December 12, 2011
Music Live at Glasslands: Gospel Music Plays Perfect Twee-Pop Without Ever Really Smiling
Posted by Lauren Beck on Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 1:42 PM
Let the record show though, he's definitely one of those who hates being pegged as such. If Holmes and Long were a couple (maybe they are a couple?), she'd be the one to swoop in with a compliment after his kinda cocky, sorta surly deadpan joke, and even she's not playing up the cutesy elements. There's no vintage dress in sight and not a lot of dancing, allowing for her warm, honeyed voice to do the work. On closer examination, How to Get to Heaven is as cheeky as it is self-deprecating: "We think the world of you" is followed up with "...We know you do too." And so Holmes becomes a sort of Stephen Merritt-like character, burdened by a talent for pop melody and lovelorn lyrics, now faced with fighting the adorableness that typically comes along with them. As if to beat you to the punch, he introduces "Apartment" — a solid 9.0 on the twee Richter scale — with begrudged acknowledgement: "It's. Twee. As. Fuck." He smiles maybe two times throughout the set, allows little to no time for banter between songs, and when he does, warns, "We're Gospel Music from Florida. God help us all" before setting in on renderings note for note as they appear on the album. Taken as a whole, it's a refreshing discovery to see someone play it so straight face. Let the record show, you can be twee as fuck and barely ever smile.
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