The Fly (Live Review)
frYars
Proud Gallery, London
05/09/2009
There are several available paths for anyone looking to burst from the bedroom: there are those who do so in an extravaganza of bedazzlement (with key examples being Badly Drawn Boy or, more recently, Kissy Sell Out), there are those who take an it’s-all-about-the-music approach that envelops them in enchanting enigma (Third Eye Foundation was pretty awesome at this, and, for all his penchant for dressing up, so is Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs), and then there are those whose modest gaucheness suggests with some charm that they really haven’t thought this pop thing through…
Still, while frYars, aka Ben Garrett, may, unlike so many of his contemporaries, present himself with an unsettling ordinariness, all tiny keyboard and thrifty monochrome attire, he’s actually producing something very extraordinary indeed. These are happy times for electro mavericks, yet he scarcely feels out-classable, possessing a keen capacity for both the naughtily non-linear and the compellingly club-happy even while shifting crunchingly from childlike piano plonkery to Simian-esque beat mischief and on to what can only be described as frequent dabbles with Erasureisms.
Come to think of it, it’s not only his re-pitching of ‘The Circus’ that makes ‘Olive Eyes’ an early standout here; there’s also a curious cruelty to the lyrics that makes for a recurring and slightly renegade feature. Furthermore, in a fascinating take on a presently-heftily-explored era, his vocals call to mind nothing so much as the glowering, stylish fury of Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory. Yes, that annoying big Y at the heart of his handle should probably be made more manageable at some point, and he’s evidently still getting to grips with this whole frontman-in-public malarkey, but frYars is picking up some tremendous habits along the way…
Iain Moffat
