Show Review: BESTGIRL, Self Help, Le Bang, Golder at Trans Pecos. February 2nd, 2024.
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A vibrant night of music rendered in black and white
February 3, 2024
Just yesterday we threw ourselves into a cold and damp Friday night to catch BESTGIRL, Self Help, Le Bang, and Golder at Brooklyn’s Trans Pecos. Transit trouble caused us to miss BESTGIRL’s entire set. We hate leaving artists out of the mix of show reviews, so for that we sincerely apologize.
We walked in the door as soon as Self Help was strumming their opening chords and an introduction that “This first song is about living under the sea in a pineapple”. We spent the whole happy tune wondering if this really was a song about Spongebob, or a bit for dramatic flair. The five piece crafted easy breezy tunes that felt like August much more than February. The rhythm and flow had a skip-and-a-hop bounce to them that made you forget about whatever might be bothering you. Another song was prefaced with “This next song’s about drinking Mountain Dew. Tons of it.”. This self help prescription told us not to take life too seriously and made it easy to join in on the fun.
Le Bang was next on stage with half as many instruments but twice the punching power. Lead vocalist Lola encouraged the crowd to dance before the opening number. This was completely unnecessary though, the audience wasted no time getting down to these playfully overdriven heaters. Many songs came from their recent album Robot Island. Many people knew the words and sang along. With dozens of jumping, shaking, and twisting feet, we felt the wooden floorboards bend with the beat.
Lights turned down low for final act Golder. They prefaced their set with an announcement that it was brand new material. The duo wielded an outsized sound with a table full of keyboards, samplers, drum machines, and effects pedals. One song was fast and trance-like, another a slow burn with strumming guitar. We noticed one of the beat smiths wearing a Dr. Doom mask ring. Respect. Our favorite moment came when the lead singer ripped into their guitar mid-song, screeching with satisfying crunch and distortion.
Rain or shine, these band are out here. Connect with them on social media below and get plugged in to the action!
