Hoovering near success

Monday, November 30, 1998

Import band Hooverphonic impresses audiences with their new lead-singer while string instruments give their sophomore album a timeless quality

By Trinh Bui

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Don't call them trip-hop, don't call them electronica, just call them good.

Flemish import Hooverphonic played an inspired show Nov. 17 at the El Rey. Touring in support of their sophomore release, "Blue Wonder Power Milk," the band worked over the crowd with passionate, guitar-led songs. They were more than capable of opening up for soft-rock headliner Duncan Sheik. (Shouldn't it be the other way around?)

Fronted by the barely legal Geike Arnaert, the band known mostly for the Isaac Hayes sampled "Two Wicky" delivered a 45-minute set ripe with an emotion and warmth missing from their first album.

Arnaert is the third singer to provide vocals for Hooverphonic. After the departure of Liesje Sadonius and Sadonius' replacement, Arnaert was given the daunting task of laying down tracks for "Milk."

"There was pressure of course. Me being compared to Liesje and everything," said Arnaert. "But I really didn't think about it. I was about to come out of school, and I was just 18. Everything was new to me. It was pretty hard, but I really didn't notice the pressure."

Her vocals more than made up for Sadonius' absence. It gracefully sailed into a high, airy tone on "Eden" and whispered playfully on "Club Montepulciano" during the set. And even with the tin can-like acoustics bouncing around the El Rey, Hooverphonic kept the melodies grounded and recognizable for most of the night.

The growth underwent by Hooverphonic showed itself on the stage. Incorporating strings into the newest disc and bringing it to the stage with a sampler, the band's music offered a more enduring feel.

"(Alex Callier - the main song writer) just really wanted to work with strings all his life. For the album we got the budget to work with a live orchestra," said Arnaert. "For the first album, the sampler was a new toy that (the band) could play with, but that has been done so you want to move on. There is more timelessness to this one than the first album. It won't be as dated as the other one."

Often labeled as a trip-hop outfit in the Portishead vein, Hooverphonic tries to distance itself from any high-handed label. The pop group simply performs music for the masses.

"It is pop music. It would be pretentious to put a high label on our music," said Arnaert. "It is nothing more than pop music really. The comparison with Portishead and everything is getting old. I don't really see it beyond the female vocals and the electronic part."

Strutting a diverse set list, Hooverphonic threw together a little, trippish pop-concoction. The show had an up-tempo dance atmosphere. "Lung" rocked with a catchy, driving guitar lead washed over sci-fi blips and bips.

The night really captured Hooverphonic's deft ability to create an atmosphere reflecting the mood of each song.

"Battersea" swept in to a chorus of weeping horns and strings accompanied by melancholic musing from Arnaert. The vocals lost itself in a musical depression.

"'Battersea,' I think is really powerful with the strings and drum 'n bass flowing," Arnaert said.

"It is like you are on top of a bullet train and all of the sudden when the drums stop, the train stops, and you're still going, and that is a feeling I get as well."

Truly filling in as lead, Arnaert sung "Two Wicky," a song made famous by Sadonius. Arnaert had no trouble with the tune or the night.Photos by GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Hooverphonic brought the "Blue Wonder Power Milk" music to the stage with it at the El Rey theater.

Geike Arnaert, from Hooverphonic, gives an interview before her band's show at the El Rey.

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