TRWBADOR / Y PENCADLYS / OH PEAS! | LIVE REVIEW

Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Fri 6 Mar

Clwb Ifor Bach, the bosom to Cardiff’s musical brood for some 30-odd years, has ushered in some incredible talent in its time. Not least from the likes of these three prodigies, whose artistic yield exceeded expectations.

Oh Peas! is the moniker of Rosie Smith whose idiosyncratic style can also be heard in the form of Totem Terrors, a dicey pop duo conceived in Cardiff and Brighton. With this solo project, Smith is perhaps more earnest in her songs, appearing on stage with an electric guitar and a whole lot to say. I was immediately struck by her lyrics – some perfectly inspired, some completely oddball but all of them drew my focused attention along with her quizzical pop hooks.

Y Pencadlys brought the notion of artistic expression to an extraordinary level. Raw, visceral, shouty and wildly unstable, his performance seemed to either put people on tenterhooks or send them into some kind of flabbergasted high. Bounding about the stage area like a boisterous Labrador manipulating his various knobs (on his musical equipment that is) he was a joy to behold, if not for his creepy electronica then undoubtedly for his utterly unbridled delivery.

In what will hopefully be the first of many 2015 appearances, the harrowing folktronica of Trwbador featured as the main event. Seven months after their acclaimed second album was released, this is the first time I’ve witnessed them showcase this material. Although the more natural elements of their show were absent (guitar and keys), it was still profoundly infatuating to watch them shape and mould their mystifying blend of thumps, beeps, dings and swells. Angharad Van Rijswijk’s breathy vocal solidifies the expanse of sounds and brings them all together with simple, earworm melodies.

So ends another thoroughly compelling evening of uncommonly exciting music that is once more a vital contribution to the Welsh music scene.

words CHARLIE PIERCEY