Belly
Glee Club, Cardiff Bay
Mon 11 June
Back in the latter half of the 1980s, two bands – the Pixies and Throwing Muses – emerged from America’s east coast. Strange, primal, well-read and putting American alt-rock on the map, both bands had strong women at their core: Kim Deal in Pixies, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly at Throwing Muses. Donelly added a sweetness to Hersh’s acerbic voice and the Muses’ angular melodies, taking them closer to the mainstream on their fourth LP The Real Ramona, then teaming up with Deal in The Breeders.
From there, Donelly jumped ship to create Belly, releasing the Star LP in 1993. Its best known song, 90s indiepop classic Feed The Tree, had the chorus line, “Take your hat off boy when you’re talking to me / And be there when I feed the tree…” – relating to notions of commitment and respect, large trees on farms marking where families may gather or be buried. Gepetto was another biggie from that time too, but 1995 followup
LP King didn’t perform as well, despite being the more coherent album – songs like Seal My Fate delivering six-pack gusto with a soft underbelly.
Now, though, Donelly is bringing Belly back, just as The Breeders also return after a hiatus. Following a reissue of King, new album Dove sounds like they’re picking up right where they left off. CHRIS SEAL
Tickets: £20. Info: 0871 4720400