Live Review: Southpaw
March 5th, 2009
By: Liz Levine

Rating: 7.5/11

Brooklyn’s festive Southpaw, with its thickly lined walls of classic record sleeves and concert posters, was comfortably full when New Jersey’s Bern & The Brights took the stage. Named for their anchor and main songwriter Bern Malavarca, who formerly performed as a solo artist, the now quintet is a result of a fortuitous collaboration only intended for one gig. The symbiotic results led to fulltime collaboration, a fine choice musically but also on a personal level, and the members’ enjoyment of one another seeped into the audience this evening.

Opening with “Boo,” The Brights immediately established the momentum that would continue to feed the crowd’s dancin’ tendencies, its driving rhythm creating something of a Western storytelling-song feel. What’s really remarkable, though, is Bern’s face-slapping voice, not a bit shy in this live setting and howlin’ quite beautifully through guttural growls and knee-wobbling crescendos. Similarly, singer and acoustic guitar player Catherine McGowan opened her mouth to reveal quite the pipes. Both Bern and McGowan sang with strong, resonating voices that made me want to weep openly.

Also moving are the songs themselves, most of which are paced at a driving tempo suggestive of travel and action. The upbeat numbers have a traditional American feel without actually being country songs, a genre hint augmented by Nicole Scorsone’s impressive violin. Bern’s electric guitar brings an indie-rock edge, a notion rounded out by Shawn Fafara on bass and Jose Ulloa on drums, and the group sometimes even inches into jam territory. Constantly benefiting from collaboration, the folky “These Creeps And Automatons” gave McGowan center stage for a stretch, while “Soul” presented three-part harmonies and some plucky gypsy fun from Scorsone.

Through it all, these kids clearly had a bang up time, letting the audience know that “Southpaw is the friendliest place to play.” They also shared the excellent news that they’d just won an emerging artists contest, earning the chance to write with musician and songwriter/producer extraordinaire Butch Walker and open for him at Webster Hall Saturday the 14th. Bern & The Brights are no doubt elated by this opportunity, and it won’t be surprising when we see even more of these guys in the near future.