Down Duo Down

Last night was Gallic couple John & Jehn's album launch at the Luminaire. I fell in love with the brooding beatnik duo's sound and aesthetic when I interviewed them for the next issue of Clash. Straight out of the nouvelle vague's 60s Parisian chic they play dirty, Velvet Underground style, primitive pop. On stage they sizzle with stroppy sexual tension, and while the folks down the front were loving them, I have to admit I wasn't 100% convinced that their moody theatrics were all real.
Their support choices were brilliant, starting with the slow and spooky Duke Garwood on fucked up blues guitar and then the jaw dropping highlight of my night- Joe Gideon & the Shark. Brother and sister, Gideon and Viva (both formerly of Bikini Atoll), play ragged, raucous blues rock. Gideon's spoken word vocal delivery comes in a menacing Nick Cave rhythm and tells intriguing narratives of learning, love and arson, while Viva pounds the drums with a precision and searing style that's the antithesis of the sloppy, sexy Meg White school of drumming, multi tasking on the arsenal of instruments set up around her-keyboards, glockenspiel, and some kind of knob twiddling sample machine. And she sings!
Last time I saw them play, Viva, who was an Olympic gymnast and dancer in her past life, was heavily pregnant and the raw woman power emanating from her was amazing. Her baby daddy is the drummer from the magnificent Archie Bronson Outfit, my other all time favourite live band. They share that psycho noir country vibe that can also be found in the music of Sons and Daughters, Clinic and Josh T Pearson. And talk about a baby born to drum.