Jeremy's Indie Music: Waxahatchee, Swearin' Manchester Sound Control 25th October 2013 7/10

Last night was all about the American twin sisters who formed a pop punk band called P.S Eliot in their teens. It ran from 2007 to 2011; now they're touring Europe together with their individual projects. Allison Crutchfield's Swearin' was remarkable for its energy, especially from the bass guitar and drummer. Like Savages, it relies upon visceral impact rather than subtlety for its energy. The set was heavy on songs from their upcoming second album Surfing Strange. The music makes use of fuzz and distortion, with a deliberately scrappy, unpolished feel. The lyrics have a feministic theme; the singing was pitched a little flat, but the sharing of vocals between two guitarists was effective. Pitchfork said: 'Swearin' channels the feeling of being in your early-to-mid 20s in the most intuitive way.' I'm some distance past this stage in life, but during their set I was completely carried away and uplifted by the punk spirit.

By comparison, Waxahatchee took more risks stylistically, but was less immediate in impact. The solo project of Alabama born Katie Crutchfield, they performed as a trio (against the four piece band of her sister). Waxahatchee's first UK gigs were only this summer, yet Katie said little between songs and barely acknowledged the fairly sizeable crowd at this small venue. Any expectations I had about their sound based on their albums were totally shattered. In the studio, they major on simplicity, and the vocal style is folk influenced. Live, there was far greater attack from her boyfriend Keith Spencer on drums and the bass player, clearly inspired by P.S Eliot and indeed Swearin'. This made for an unusual juxtaposition with the more gentle vocals, an experiment which didn't completely pay off.

A substantial part of the hour long set was taken from her first album American Weekend, yet it really came to life with Lips and Limbs from the more recent Cerulean Salt. Here, an infectious rhythm finally brought some tangible crowd reaction, and the band really gelled. It was followed by an energetic cover of Mama Cass Elliot's Make Your Own Kind Of Music. The lyrics to this song epitomise Waxahatchee's confidence. True, her voice isn't particularly powerful, but she avoided the trap of trying to faithfully reproduce the sound of the album in a live context. The directness of the story telling comes through less clearly, but indifference or boredom wasn't an option. If ultimately I felt her sister had the more coherent, polished act, I'm happy I have experienced Waxahatchee's independence of spirit. She talked in a recent interview of her focus on 'making music I really like'. I'm grateful that great art has never been the work of a committee or focus group but of inspired individuals like the Crutchfield twins.