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Eef Barzelay (La Noche Americana)
2008-05-04 Teatre Villaroel Eef Barzelay has one of the most individual and haunting voices that has made an appearance in my record collection in the last year. Lead singer of band Clem Snide I have totally fallen in love with his solo work. His voice is reminiscent to me of The Decemberist's Colin Melloy or more recently Dave Monks of Tokyo Police club. Somewhat gruff yet displaying great fragility it is undercut by the use of witty modern lyrics and an entertaining, casual stage presence. I first became aware of him after he composed the soundtrack to the excellent and underated 2007 high school misfits movie "Rocket Science" - from which the recurring song "Failed to Open" really grabbed my attention - but it's recent album "Lose Big" that has been stuck on replay since it's release last month. Songs such as those on display at Teatre Villaroel last night have a warmth, lyrical tenderness and a grip on real everyday matters which seems lacking from a lot of recent indie releases. Perhaps his most famous track (if such adjectives can be applied to little known alternative artists) is the "Ballad of Bitter Honey" a song filled with both oneliners and tragedy as he chronicles the plight of a scantily clad rap video dancer. Anthemic, "Could Be Worse" is a perfect optimistic slacker hymn, while album opener "Apocalyptic Friend" seems to draw from Barzelay's sensibilities learnt scoring movies to create a truly rich sound, expanding on his alt. country roots with an altogether more diverse range of influences and styles from the all out rock of guitar bursts to the gospel-like melody and sentiments. The charm and witt of his live performance should not be underestimated as it is a truly powerful tool. Instantly impressed by the show I can only say that I hope his music finds a larger audience and that there is still more to come.