Coming from Cornwall with a bit of California dreaming, this beachy sextet has a sound influenced by shores of warmer climates. Taking their cues from the Beach Boys and Mojave 3 (including a bright cover of “The Mutineer”), the Loose Salute blend happy, poppy sixties surf with the mellow, melancholy tones of alt-country. And any band with a lap-steel wins bonus points. They tend to do the mellow, melancholy songs better than the happy, poppy ones, but the happy, poppy ones are still fun, and lead vocalist Lisa Billson bounces around with the same energy regardless of what she's singing. And there is something impressive about a band where no one person is relegated to one instrument; the Barfly stage was definitely not equipped for six people to keep shuffling around to different instruments. Another logistical detail not in their favour was the ridiculous barricade that Barfly has decided needs to be in front of the stage. Billson’s expressive performance style was hampered by the fact that the nearest audience member was ten feet away from her (there is no need for a club of that size to have a four-foot rail keeping the audience at bay). But we’re happy to say that it’s a case of the right band in the wrong setting — definitely worth catching somewhere other than Barfly.
Photo by Amanda Farah.
