The strumming and whistling pair of Erisy and Raff have quietly become a local gem of a musical act. In their opening set for The Shook Twins on Wednesday, September 14, at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club, the audience could be seen sitting in contemplation, heads tilted thoughtfully, as if struck by a profound thought provoked forth by Watt’s unexpected poignancy. Her whispery voice and tranquil guitar lulled us in, but the lyrics on songs like “Foolish Things” and “House of Sage” – “I’ve learned to love from where the water leaves the land” – lingered with us, bits of thoughtful poetry that stayed in the soul. And Raff is a powerhouse unto himself, as we beheld his expert whistling in a set-closing cover of “Cecilia.”
Continuing with the lulling theme of the evening, headliners The Shook Twins showed SOhO their unique brand of folk-pop, which incorporates groovy lock-rhythms more akin to hip-hop than bluegrass. New single “Call Me Out” was lullaby-like in its incoming and receding lushness, soft then thundering with its chorus and its distant vocal echoes, but “Time To Swim” was the real highlight, rolling a Sufjan Stevens-esque banjo riff into a satisfyingly ripping slow burn of a song where the twins’ rhythmic interplay with the band most stood out, hammered happily into our heads. Ending with “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” the lightly psychedelic and assuredly soothing set was a very good one indeed – in parts relaxing and in parts rollicking, making us shake our hips and stir our innermost spirits.