On November 3, 2009, I received a last minute invite from Bobby Kimberly of MuseBox to go check-out Ume at the Horseshoe for a mid-week show. For those of you in the know (apparently not me), Ume was last in Toronto for North x Northeast in March where they really turned some heads.
Hailing from Austin, Ume is headed by the lovely vocalist and lead guitarist Lauren Larson who could light up half of the country if we could just harness the energy from her stage presence. The remaining two legs of the trio are made up by her husband Eric on the bass, and their friend Jeff Barrera on the drums.
The origins of Ume are half teen-prodigy story, half tale of romance. Inspired by Nirvana, Lauren taught herself to play the guitar by strumming on her brother’s acoustic guitar late at night, cassette player blaring, trying to emulate the chords of Nirvana’s 1992 Incesticide. At 14 she was playing in a punk/grindcore band by the name of 12 Blades, and a year later she met her future husband during a Halloween show with 12 Blades at a skater park in Austin. Eric asked for her number, she obliged, and the rest is history.
Fast forward then to 2002 when they recruited Jeff to start Ume (“Ume” being a common name for the Japanese prune—a symbol of spring in that country, a motif which is echoed nicely on the cover of the Sunshower EP—and dare I say a wicked band name. I would incidentally expect no less sophistication from a band that, on the inside cover of their debut album acknowledges the support of their family in the Mandarin language—and which is fronted by a former Ph.D. philosophy candidate).
Returning to the show at the Horseshoe, the band and in particular Lauren, has what can only be described as an alluring stage presence. Most of the melody is carried exclusively by Lauren’s vocals and her guitar work. Yet, true to her punk rock roots, she put on one hell of a visual show. You’ll notice from my photo-set that I have few static shots of Lauren, and that is no accident. She thrashed and gyrated with her guitar for much of the show—a task made all the more brilliant by the fact that her fingers continue to carry the tune flawlessly. It is a spectacle so remarkable to watch that fans have been known to ask Lauren whether she plays pre-recorded guitar work during her live sets (she does not).
Ume @ Horseshoe Tavern - November 3, 2009
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In terms of logical progression, it makes sense to start by talking about Ume’s new EP, Sunshower. The album is astonishing in so far as it instantly permeates the listener’s musical core, but is not so simplistic that its force diminishes during subsequent plays.
Sunshower begins with East of Hercules which is one of the strongest pieces in the EP. The guitar work is clean and nicely developed, while the vocal work comes across first as deep and later transitions into a muted but melodious sound that ultimately drifts into raspy territory. You can definitely hear the Nirvana influences in the piece—in particular with the aforementioned vocal work—although the play speed is noticeably faster and the guitar work more sophisticated.
Sunshower, the EP’s namesake, is the ultimate gem of the release. The early guitar work is muted and understated, followed soon after by equally simple bass-work that reinforces the melodic framework of the piece. The drums subsequently waft into the song, further buttressing its structure. Remarkably, near the end of the piece, the vocal work shifts from whimsical to ragged at the turn of a beat, thus radically changing the emotional intensity of the piece. All I can say is that the layered transformations and musical versatility within this one song are truly astonishing.
The remaining songs in the EP are no less remarkable, though in my opinion the EP does peak a tad early. There are some remarkable moments in the remaining tracks however. Look for the disharmonious, yet fitting steamy vocal work in The Means and check out the brilliance of the rolling guitar chords followed by the crazy solo three minutes into the piece. Listen also for the vocal looping at the tail-end of the track that punctuates the end of the song nicely.
Turning again to the show at the Horseshoe, the overall performance was amazing. The set started by playing some of their older work from Urgent Sea—an album that can only be described as a far less refined performance than the Sunshower EP.
I will digress a bit to say a word about Urgent Sea. I overheard Lauren herself refer to Sunflower as a cleaner and more refined album as compared to Urgent Sea. The melodies in Urgent Sea are far more repetitive and lacking in proper harmony. The punk influence is strong in this one. The vocals can only be described as raspy and screamy (quite frankly, the phenomenon of talented vocalists choosing to holler their lyrics will never cease to perplex me). The one melodic exception in the album is Hurricane, a track that manages to tear out a wicked melody from the dominant bass work and the some-times thrashing guitar strums. Notwithstanding my critique of the debut album, I’m sure that my problem with Urgent Sea stems from a general dislike of its musical genre rather than from any precise issue with the talent on display. At the end of the day, the sheer energy of album makes it worth a listen, even if Urgent Sea bears little resemblance to the amazing work that is alive in Sunshower.
Ume @ Horseshoe Tavern - November 3, 2009
Recognizing my apparent ADD, let me return yet again to the show at the Horseshoe. Mid-way through their set, Ume started working in tracks from Sunshower and the change in the audience was palpable. Admittedly the musical shift took the energy level down some, but it was amply replaced by a more rhythmic appreciation of the melodies and by an appraisal of the vocal talent. And, despite the cleaner sound and toning down of energy, the stage performance continued strong. The second half of the set was punctuated by longer stints featuring Lauren at the mic, but Ume continued to put on one hell of an energetic performance to the end.
I ended the night thoroughly exhausted, with a photo memory card loaded with 4 gigs of dynamic images, and with the Sunshower EP and the Urgent Sea album tucked away in my camera bag. In the end, I would rate this as one of the better shows I’ve caught this year and would highly recommend that you check out the EP.
— Andres Hannah-Suarez
