Khruangbin at SWX Live Review
Posted on: 2018-02-07
Our rating:
Effortless, dreamy psychedelia from this Houston trio transported the crowd through soundscapes from Spain and Latin America to Iranian pop and Thai funk. Having released their second album last week, this was an exciting time to experience.
“It’s good to see some new faces, and some old – what’s up Jeff”, speaks guitarist Mark Speer in his relaxed Texan accent to a packed out SWX (and to legendary gig-goer Big Jeff at the front). The venue is surprisingly rammed, considering the gig was scheduled for the smaller Bierkeller across the road, and only changed on the day, with an extra 350 tickets released and snapped up immediately.
Khruangbin (a transliteration of ‘aeroplane’ in Thai) brought psychedelic desert warmth to the cold, snowy Bristol night, their dreamy, laid back and understated instrumental tracks floated across the crowd like a crystalline river out of SWX’s capable sound system. It was a welcome experience not to require earplugs at a gig and simply drift on the perfect clarity of this hypnotic trio.
Mark Speer’s delicate, reverberous guitar danced seamlessly from surfer rock and psychedelia to Iranian pop and Spanish-tinged melodies. Warm basslines from Laura Lee brought the Thai funk bottom end that so inspired their 2015 debut album The Universe Smiles Upon You, and drummer Donald ‘DJ’ Johnson’s subtle, bouncy grooves kept the crowd locked in their happy hypnotism.
It seems Khruangbin excel in any environment they play in this city, from supporting Father John Misty in cavernous Colston Hall in 2016 to a tiny gig in the café at St Werburghs City Farm in 2015. Since first playing together in 2010, the band’s ability to delicately fuse disparate vibes from cultures all over the world in their relaxed, dreamlike soundscape has earned them sell-out tours across the globe. Wherever they play though, it seems to me the listener is transported to a starry, kaleidoscopic night sky in a wilderness somewhere like that depicted on the album sleeve of their debut release.
The band’s set naturally mixed tracks from The Universe Smiles Upon You with their latest album released last week, Con Todo El Mundo (meaning ‘with all the world’). The songs from this sophomore release seem to expand the group’s sound into further territory, particularly eastern and Spanish ambience, whilst maintaining the Thai funk and psychedelic bedrock of their debut. 
The beauty of Khruangbin’s understated performance means a slight emphasis in backbeat or syncopation results in a huge shift in the crowd’s energy. This was certainly the case with ‘Evan Finds the Third Room’, the groove highpoint of the set, which Speer informed us was the second time they’ve performed it live. ‘Less is more’ is certainly the band’s approach when it comes to vocals, using it as a texture rather than a focal point in much of their material. With this track though, the spoken ‘yes’ on the downbeat was so simple yet imbued the groove with a heavy, percussive danceability.
Laura Lee’s subtle swaying pretty much encapsulated the kineticism of these steady funk grooves. Her thigh-high orange boots were definitely a big part of the evening – there was a lot of excited discussion in the crowd trying to discern if they were trousers or not.
Overall the gig was a night of beautifully clear simplicity. The music was colourful and warming. The crowd swayed gently all set, with occasional spikes of cheering when DJ’s grooves shifted the band irresistibly up a gear. Ending on the spacious disco-infused People Everywhere from their first release felt like a satisfying upbeat payoff to their casually groovy and effortlessly mesmeric set.
Article by:
Ollie graduated from Bristol University in 2015, and apart from completing one winter ski season in Austria in 2016, he has stayed in the city ever since. He is a writer and a busy musician, playing regularly with Bristol bands Cousin Kula, Feelgood Experiment and Tungz. His other interests include travel (most recently to Rajasthan in India) and reading, especially stories from far-flung places.
