Broods with Bad Sounds at the Phoenix Concert Theatre

Photos by Neil Van

Fellow sibling duo, Bad Sounds, opened up the show with carefree tunes that sound like they sampled The Beach Boys (both their sound and lifestyle), adorned their tracks with hip-hop elements, and freestyled on the beats in their backyard. Their anthems scream rebellion and are the soundtracks to summer days playing hooky. Upbeat and modern, but paying homage to retro, they make for an interesting choice as the opener for Broods.

Broods (another sibling duo; this time brother and sister) hail from New Zealand and have a flair for electropop tinged with drama. They’re touring now for their most recent album, Don’t Feed the Pop Monster.

Georgia Nott, the vocalist of Broods, is even better live — her voice haunts every crevice of the theatre and could be the soundtrack to a warrior off to their final battle. As a performer, she reminds me of Blood Orange in that they both have the utmost confidence and control of their voice and body, hypnotizing their audiences. Caleb Nott brings harmony to their tracks with his synthesizers and percussion, acting as a steadying presence so that his younger sister can shine.

They performed tracks from their current project like the vulnerable frenzy of “Hospitalized”, the serene confession of “Why Do You Believe Me?”, and the song that Georgia proudly claims represents her, “Dust” — but it was “Falling Apart” that surprised me the most. Maybe because its simple structure and pared down sound was a direct contrast to the thick production of the peripheral tracks, but it was a beautifully genuine performance by Georgia and you can feel the emotion when she sings the opening lines “There’s a hole in my head / There’s a hole in my heart / There’s a hole in the wall / That wasn’t there in the start”. It was also refreshing to hear Caleb step into the spotlight with the agonizing, introspective track, “Too Proud”. This track was produced by longtime collaborator Joel Little, so it’s no wonder why it feels familiar and from their proverbial established grapevine.

In addition to these tracks from their most recent album, they performed classics like “Free” and “Bridges”, much to the joy of the crowd. These are the tracks that made me a Broods fan and they executed them extremely well.

To no one’s surprise, they closed out the night with the lead single from Don’t Feed the Pop Monster, “Peach”. A song that encourages its listeners to embrace chaos with a smile (bordering on lunacy?), it’s the perfect resolution for the night as we all head to our own respective weekend adventures.