Narc. Magazine Online
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Lee Hammond enjoys a night of exquisite surf pop from the musical veteran
Image: Kelley Stoltz by Iam Burn
With the recent release of his seventeenth album, Kelley Stoltz makes a welcome return to The Cluny. Local indie rockers Tales take to the stage first, with a fairly spritely set that gets the evening underway. However, it’s Stoltz that really sets things alight tonight, with a part-comedy-part-music show. His jovial musings provide the perfect segues between tracks, with a variety of stories and crowd conversations thrown in for good measure.
His set is packed with exquisite surf pop which draws obvious comparison to The Beach Boys, something which Stoltz himself references in the latter part of the set. There’s a lot more to his music though, with tinges of garage rock that permeate through Me And My Mohawk and She Likes Noise, and the blissed-out dream pop stylings of crowd request Kim Chee Taco Man, Stoltz’s armoury is broad and many of these facets are on show tonight. There’s even an appearance of a synth pop number in the form of Pyramid of Time, as this eclectic set meanders through Stoltz’s back catalogue.
Effortlessly guided by his aforementioned musings and his comedic interlude, it culminates with the brilliant Are You My Love? This driving track is the perfect way to end his set, racing guitars and chanted lyrics twinned with gleeful smiles. Stoltz remains an underrated artist and tonight only serves to compound this further.
