Image and Words by: Kristen Chamberlain
June 14th 2008

(10pm @ The Kathedral)  Here is a band that is so cute I want to fold them up, tuck them in my pocket and keep them forever. Fred is a five piece band hailing from Cork, Ireland. They were asked to fill the 10 p.m. time slot at the Kathedral Saturday night after the scheduled band was a no-show. With less than 40 minutes notice, Fred agreed to play; good thing they did, because they might just be my favourite musical discovery at NXNE this year.

Everything about this band’s performance radiated happiness, from their quirky lyrics to their endearing harmonies, and that smile on keyboardist Eibhilin’s face, which she kept throughout the whole set, was the bow on the whole package.

For the first few songs I racked my brain trying to think of bands this cheerful quintet could be compared to. At times I thought they sounded like the Scissor Sisters, while my friends suggested The New Pornographers. Then I realized that’s exactly what I love about this band; they are unique.

At a time where some indie bands (yes, even some I’ve seen at NXNE this year) seem to be more concerned with their aesthetics than their sound, Fred rocked out their catchy indie pop songs in a manner damn near close to perfection, dressed in simple t-shirts, jeans and dirty sneakers. Hold the smoke and mirrors, this band is the real thing. For me, the song “4 Chords and The Truth” was the highlight of the show. It starts off with a build up of a catchy keyboard riff, a simple, steady drum line, followed by a guitar riff that eventually lead to vocals that make the song sound more like a conversation, but this song could still beat Art Brut’s similar style on any given day.

You can tell this band enjoys what they do by the way they interact with each other on stage, which is important sub-text to their music. At one point lead singer Joseph stood around the drum set with feet planted, knees bent, rubbing his hands vigorously together in front of drummer Justin, right before his drum solo. If I had to compare Fred to anything it would be to a sports team that is always encouraging and cheering on their team mates throughout the performance. After the solo, I heard someone from the audience say, “That was good shit,” Agreed!

Check out Fred at:
 www.myspace.com/fredtheband
www.fredtheband.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 1:40 pm.