ear – Concert Review

ear : Concert Review

words by Sophie Gross

I drove home on a Thursday night, picked up two of my friends and headed to Don Quixote, a little club tucked away in the neighborhoods of East LA. I watched my friends join the rest of the delinquent crowd, taking shooters behind the club out of the bouncer’s eyeline. Boys in skinny jeans and girls in chokers were chainsmoking in line. I expected the crowd to mostly be college students like myself but it didn’t take me long to realize the boys behind us couldn’t have been older than 14. This is undoubtedly a reflection of the youthfulness of ear, the group in question, composed of two college students not much older than myself, who quickly gained a considerable amount of attention after releasing their first album less than a year ago. 

We hit the bathroom once we got in the club, where I see Yaelle, half of the duo, washing her hands in a rush at the sink next to me. She is unmistakable with her bright blonde shaggy hair and colorful attire and I am reminded how close in age we are. We both rushed out, her backstage and me towards the crowd, squeezing myself to the front to hear the rest of the opener CFCF’s set. I personally enjoyed his mixes, he had a bit of a Skrillex and Varg2+ thing going as he played with some dubstep. But I could understand that the crowd’s lack of enthusiasm was likely due to their confusion, as his sound was considerably different from that of the headliner. 

After waiting patiently for 45 minutes in the crowd during what was supposed to be a brief intermission between artists, listening to an unexpected mix of 80s music and attempting to inconspicuously sneak further up in the crowd, the headliner finally arrived. The duo quietly walked on stage accompanied by an audio of a verbal argument that, upon further research after the show, was taken from a video posted on facebook of an altercation, ending with the instigator yelling “you motherf**king accusor” repeatedly. All this to say it was definitely a very unexpected start to a concert. The stage set-up is extremely humble, with only a microphone on each side of a table with a macbook and nothing else. The lights flash as Jonah and Yaelle slowly take their places on stage. They express their enthusiasm for the crowd through a playfully shy and awkward back and forth, where Jonah asks, in a completely monotone voice, for the crowd to go “really crazy or something” before pressing play on his laptop.

Once the first song starts playing, Fetish, it becomes immediately clear why this minimalist presentation is so necessary. Their music thrives on a lo-fi-sound, you can hear the room ambience and reverb in their recording, creating a feeling of intimacy. For reference, they recorded their first single Nerves on an iphone in their school library; they thrive on being understated. The awkwardness of their demeanor makes the atmosphere extremely comfortable and removes the pedestal they would normally be on as performers. 

I was intrigued by their choice to play everything off a computer, the only change being their vocals, but it makes complete sense in the context of their artistry. One of the main questions I had before going to see them live is how they were going to tackle performing as an electronic group that relies on post-production more so than physical instruments. The mixing of vocals and instruments in their songs is what makes them so moving in my opinion, and I don’t think they would have had the same effect if they were mixed live. The intimacy of their live vocals combined with their ambient samples of nature, is starkly contrasted with the distortion of their bass, manipulating it to create intentional feedback. It was so strong I could feel it in my forehead and it felt like everything disappeared except the sound; I was alone with the music. Knowing that this was all just coming from a macbook somehow made the experience more magical; they don’t need an elaborate and expensive set to communicate their music. 

In addition to this remarkable sound their actual performance was incredibly moving. During the delicate parts of their songs, the simple stage set-up combined with their stillness created a closeness between the performer and audience. There’s always a sense of quiet, where you almost have to lean into the music to make out their whispers, before getting fully enveloped in it. But then once the bass would drop, the lights would flash and Yaelle and Jonah would start moving like crazy, banging their heads, grabbing the mic stands, getting lost in their own music. This further nurtures the reciprocal relationship between audience and performer, as we are allowed to dance and “really go crazy or something” with them. Between songs, they return to their reserved position, grounding us back to the crowd of this little club. Jonah peaks his head around his laptop to see what song was next in the line-up, and quietly announces it. 

They played most of the songs they’ve released, as well as two new songs, which maintained their unique sound while also branching into new territory that I look forward to them exploring more. Before I could even register how much time had passed, they played their last song and quietly exited the stage, after performing for a mere 45 minutes. The crowd called for an encore, but they had already disappeared behind the curtain. This was likely just due to their limited discography being such a new group, but it added to their air of mystery. After the show I sat on the curb outside the club with my friend, watching the crowd disperse, in genuine awe of what I just experienced. In a world that feels dictated by artificiality, ear has created a feeling of authenticity in their music, grounding you in ways that other electronic artists don’t, by masterfully blending physical and synthetic instrumentation. I’d argue that the rawness of their sound is the future of electronic music. I can’t wait to see them again.