poppedmusic

Albertine Sarges

Jimmy’s, Liverpool, 2 February 2022

Words and Photos by Gary Lambert

I would always recommend to music fans that you check out the bands from overseas when they come to your town.  Despite the accessibility caused by Spotify and Apple Music, it is still more likely than not that they are playing smaller venues than they would at home, and are probably a bit further down the line than bands you would expect to see in your basement rooms.  With that in mind I hit up Jimmy’s in Liverpool to catch Albertine Sarges, a Berlin-based alt pop artist who released her Sticky Fingers album on Moshi Moshi last year.

The first performer of the night was Matria.  I was surprisingly impressed by her solo performance.  I say surprisingly because she was a complete unknown to me, but I would heartily recommend checking out the demos on her Soundcloud as they show off the delicate guitar work and emotive vocals which grabbed my attention.  Despite hitting some very serious subjects with her lyrics, the vibes were laid back and made me want to absorb it all.

Pekipsy were in direct contrast to the opening act.  Loud and brash without being obnoxious were strong positives within their performance, however I found the retro soft rock sound along with the cringe humour (calling out the guitar solo made my toes curl on the second, third and fourth occasions it happened) to be miles away from my taste.  They are obviously talented musicians in the band, but when I go to gigs I don’t want to feel like I’m at a Battle of the Bands show in high school.

Albertine Sarges’ performance was brilliant.  Each member of the band worked to create a sound that was complex, attention grabbing, and yet so incredibly easy and accessible to listen to, and Albertine was the perfect frontperson as she connected with the audience every time she spoke with them.  This all came together to be a beautifully enjoyable set.  The use of flute in their sound, in addition to the staples of guitar and keys, lifted the musicality of the band tenfold like musical glitter.

The smiles I was left with after the show were definitely a worthy reward for gambling on an overseas artist.