Review – The Audreys
Local folk-rock act The Audreys, made up of singer and multi-instrumentalist Taasha Coates and guitarist Tristan Goodall, have returned to the studio after a three year hiatus. Wednesday’s one-off gig was to spruik the duo’s fourth album, Til My Tears Roll Away, ahead of a tour with their full band in May and June this year. And to show their adoring fans some love, of course.
The duo engaged the crowd with cute banter between a mix of songs from their new album and back catalogue. “Banjo & Violin” kicked things off nicely, followed by other oldies “Susanne” and a doo-wop version of “Comfort Me”. A long-standing tradition of performing a cover in each show was kept with a Jack White song (no thanks to their fans, who apparently aren’t too Twitter-savvy and missed the chance to nominate one).
For me, the tracks from the new album were the most memorable of the show. The first single “My Darlin’ Girl” is reminiscent of “Cat’s in the Cradle”, but in this version the man thinks he’s in the moon thanks to his drug habit and the mud-drenched cat’s drinking whiskey from a brown paper bag in the gutter. The title track on the new album is revealed to be inspired by Play School’s “Shake Your Sillies Out,” thanks to Taasha’s 2-year-old son. It’s a lush, sexy track (forget the Play School) that, if you’ve ever had to shake your sillies out, will speak to you like that talking hamster did that time you had an existential crisis and went on a three-week bender.
The new album promises to be less folky and more down and dirty than the previous releases. The themes are the same – Tristan peppers the show with jokes about depressing us even more with the next song – but it just feels a bit rougher. Like that cat I mentioned earlier. The chemistry between Tristan’s epic guitar skills and Taasha’s silky, sultry voice was gorgeous, but the new songs really felt like they needed a full band behind them. With a bit more grunt to the sound, The Audreys would draw you in, smack you in the face, then share a bottle of red with you. I’d be up for that.
