Watch out for the Pierce sisters

The Monte Water Rats club in Kings Cross has played host to many up-and-coming bands who have gone on to make it big, and on 16 November a small crowd saw three acts with the potential to hit the zeitgeist: Irish songstress Laura Izibor, quirky rock band Tankus the Henge, and Alabama sister-act The Pierces.

Izibor played a 15-minute set of original songs with a voice reminiscent of Amy Winehouse, though significantly less slurred. Emotionally-charged songs dealing with being in love to not believing in love at all showcased her as an intense performer relying on her voice to deliver impact rather than theatrics, and what a powerful voice it is. Her trouble is not lack of talent, but that her voice is so similar to Winehouse – a performer so very ubiquitous at the moment for all the wrong reasons. Izibor’s songs are well-crafted and passionate but, like her voice, suffer from a lack of originality – beautiful, easy to listen to, but not too dissimilar from other jazz acts around.

Theatrics were in high supply when Tenkus the Henge took to the stage. A four-man band fronted by a top-hat-wearing piano player called Jazz who narrated the show like a circus ringmaster, Tankus opened with their debut single ‘Smiling Makes the Day Go Quicker’ – a romping upbeat tune that, like its title suggests, had the audience smiling. A cheery selection of songs with similarities to Franz Ferdinand and The Hoosiers, the overall effect was a very British sound that will most likely appeal to the post-emo generation looking for fun, easy pop-rock.

The Pierces are two sisters with the same face and voice and contrasting hair colours; together they captivated the Water Rats as they sang their repertoire of hauntingly dark songs from their new album Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge. With just their voices, a bearded man with a guitar sitting well out the spotlight, and an occasional hammer on a xylophone, the pair performed a few original songs in the folk-alternative genre that is unlike anything in the charts right now. Perhaps it was indicative of their varying musical styles that they wore 1920s flapper dresses teamed with 1960s hippie headbands; and that they weren’t afraid to use some evocative whistling during one song clearly inspired by the deep-south of their American upbringing. The Pierces are an act that the Water Rats might be able to claim as one of their successes in years to come.