“I want your babies!” yelled an adoring fan toward Ann Driscoll and her eponymous band as they paused between songs at TT the Bear’s on Monday evening. The cozy layout of the venue ensured that this comment was not lost on Ms. Driscoll. After having recently inserted a plug for Mrs. Danvers, her “all-women queer band,” she slyly replied: “Artificial insemination my friend.”
The charm of this Beatles-influenced Indie rocker did not lie in a sweet or predictably melodic voice, but rather in her quirky songwriting and passionate on-stage presence. Her compositions have danceable and sometimes unconventional grooves, from disco funk to eerie circus waltzes. She is unafraid of drastically altering the timbre of her voice to fit the contour of the songs, such as a rough edged (bordering on satirically operatic) melody line in the chorus of “I Wanna Be Your Zombie.” She sings unabashedly about topics such as why “Jesus Don’t Like Beggars” and also with uninhibited ferocity in the angst filled “Make Up Your Fucking Mind.” Her appeal is noticeably disparate from the mainstream, but inevitable.
On Monday, she was backed by a solid rhythm section comprised of Zac Taylor on guitar, Alex Swift on bass, and Jon Schmidt on drums. Also joining her was the sweet sounding background vocal duo of Keeley Bumford (who appeared earlier in the evening with Black Kettle) and Emily Goldstein. The final (and guest) accompanist was Nikki Mariskanish on clarinet. The tonal quality of this instrument seemed at first to be an unlikely match for such electric music, but proved to be a pleasant texture. Some of the bands’ most exciting moments came when they appeared to forget about the audience and turn inward toward each other. These euphoric instances of communication elicited head banging that made the $9 cover easily worthwhile.
Awesome review. Funny, creative, observant. More!
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