Mar 24 2009 3:25 pm,
CHEW LiPS
London, Pure Groove
24/03/2009
It’s a pretty packed-out Pure Groove Record store tonight, with London’s electro-poppers CHEW LiPS taking to the stage to mark the release of debut single ‘Solo’. As the Blondie-esque beat of ‘Salt Air’ begins to throb , we catch a glimpse of frontwoman Tigs off-stage; pouring a bottle of orange liquid down her gullet before raising her hands in the air like a euphoric gymnast preparing for competition. She bounces onstage, her hand pulsing like she’s just ripped out a beating heart from someone’s chest, and, for the next 30 minutes, the audience stand transifxed on CHEW LiPS’ elfin frontwoman, with our heart’s every beat riding on her next move as she thrusts, bends and embodies the pounding rhythms. With what could easily be an awkward set up with the two glitch'n'groove makers tinkering at the back, the rest of the space is left for the manic Karen O contender to dominate, creating a set totally devoid of moments of nothingness as she glides and prances perfectly uninhibited.
The glorious sounds of ‘Toro’ and ‘Twin Galaxies’ thump, thud and punch with their dirgey beats and disco influences before the buoyant Tigs tells us the next song "means a lot to us" and in kicks a glorious rendition of the glittering, solemn ‘Karen’. By the end of the set, Tigs has danced her arse off across the stage, sweated all over one of the nearby HEALTH T-shirts on sale and jumped up on the bar in a last bid to cause a stir with the polite instore crowd. After singing ‘Gold Key’ swinging off a lampshade, CHEW LiPS close the set on the bleepingly beautiful ‘Solo’, a stirring modern day love song. If CHEW LiPS carry on with this standard of swooning live performances they’ll never need advertise a single ever again.
Harriet Gibsone
