Women

Looking at the stage prior to a Women performance, a viewer could be forgiven for being confused about what they are about to experience. With samplers, drum machines, 5-6 amps, a full drum set (plus a seemingly random stack of toms) and cables snaking everywhere, the stage resembles a cross between a jam space and a garage sale. But when the band come out on stage, all comes clear: Women are a phenomenon. Somehow, amid what should be bedlam, the most astonishing thing occurs - actual songs emerge. Powerful, melodic, songs. Friends since childhood - two of them brothers - the band have an intuitive rapport that seems to transcend speech. A headlong collision of the basement (lo-fi pawn shop amps, and clanky, broken drums) with the synthetic (drum machine, samples, and electronics) becomes, through the filter of the band, something resembling pop music. Barely.