LOS ANGELES, CA- I don’t know how I stumbled up on it, but I fondly recall clicking on a song called “Speed Racer”, and was immediately bouncing to its lo-fi, cheery rhythms … on repeat … at least four or five times in a row. The band was named Her’s, and I immediately delved into a digital rabbit hole to learn more about this band.
As fate would turn out, they happened to have several performances lined up at SXSW in 2017 and I was able to catch them at an official showcase and even scheduled a short interview with them. The duo of Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading were as charming and cheerful in person as their pop-jangle melodies, and they earned a loyal fan in me.
Fast forward over a year when I find out that they are scheduled to perform at Echoplex in November. On The 13th. My birthday. While I was trying to figure out if I would be doing anything special for my birthday, it would turn out that I had birthday plans after all. I would be spending the evening with Her’s.
I absolutely adored their debut EP, Song’s Of Her’s and was doubly impressed with their debut full length album, An Invitation To Her’s, which was released on August 24, 2018. It’s an eclectic collection of dreamy pop gems, that will leave in a haze with a smile on your face. Highlights on the album, for me at least, are “If You Know What’s Right”, “She Needs Him” and “Love on the Line (Call Now)”. There’s just something so gleefully campy about those songs I just can’t resist.
And that’s the exact feeling I had while watching the pair perform at The Echoplex. A year had passed, and they brought the same smile back to my face as the first time I saw them when they performed in Austin. Stephen and Audan are the yin to each other’s yang. While Stephen nonchalantly croons in his deep baritone voice causally strumming riffs on his guitar, Audan is a whirling dervish of bass madness, his body in movement with every lick on his instrument. The dichotomy in performance styles is so wide, yet it fits together so perfectly.
If you follow the band on social media, you’ll note the genuine bond and sense of humor that these chaps have. Those attributes definitely come across when they perform live. They are like two brothers who feed off the energy that the other radiates, and it makes for a very warm and enjoyable performance atmosphere. As I relished in their performance, I couldn’t help but sway side to side to their dream, jangle pop melodies. Every time Audan beamed his huge smile into the audience, you couldn’t help but reciprocate and smile back.
For some reason, I assumed that their music would be my own little secret. After all, they are from the U.K. and I haven’t heard their music on any traditional radio stations here in Los Angeles. To my surprise, their fans in the audience were singing along, word for word, to most of the songs they performed. I asked a girl I was standing next to how she heard about Her’s, and she said that a song of their had popped into a playlist she listened to. God bless the internet.
Follow Her’s on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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