Toupee

   Her eyes are intense, I mean you feel like you shouldn't lock eyes on her like to do so feels so exposed as to a wolf that can take that as a fucking green light. You get the feeling of being intensely observed by the performer. Like there is no fourth wall. She tossed her wet towel to some guy in the crowd, almost half expecting him to be repulsed by it. I mean the towel was soaking. She goes, "This towel is still wet." Jocelyn from Walking Bicycles saw it and was amused. She laughed. I believe this was her first time actually seeing them. It was this live impression that drove me to get the vinyl way back when I saw them the first time. Walking Bicycles had them play on their vinyl release at Empty Bottle. I only took pictures of them the first time and bought and downloaded their whole album Dinner Parties.
  You can feel that barely restrained raw punk tension with Lullabies. Yeah, a live performance from Toupee is a sight to catch. A barely harnessed beast in a space too small for the observer and the observed. At this point the memories blur into this magical realist/German expressionist fog barely separating the Township files from Empty Bottle files. Stop Start/Dial Up is where the raw punk beast is kinda let loose to run around. I wonder how differently the impression would feel if heard before seen. I saw this with my jaw dropped to the fucking floor. I'm quite certain they played this. Its impacting live. Hmm, I can always say this is what compelled me to buy the vinyl. Listening to the recorded work sometimes starts you off on another note. Your impression differs. Dial Up, is a raw, fast punk explosion with a second sustaining wind. She grates her voice, you see a range with it. Almost on a whim the singer seems willing to engage or answer voices in the crowd. Talking with them. Her crazy Christopher Walken gaze seems weaponized to burn through you. It was cool to see Jocelyn react to those Toupee' moments. Intense, abrasive, and fast, when they slow down they nearly blossom into something else. Slowski shows they can simmer that tension to a slow psyche burn.  I mean they just turn on the cool with this track. They have a Free Monday at Empty Bottle 26 January.
Zig