Fresh from Glastonbury, Mattiel Brown and her band Mattiel brought their blues-tinged garage rock to Norwich Arts Centre for the first night of their European tour.
A soundtrack of 50s rock and roll provides the perfect build up before Mattiel emerge from clouds of dry ice - minus their lead singer. The band waste no time slipping into a gritty jam which could introduce the hero of a western. After a short period of time tonight's hero glides behind her band before delivering a smooth croon which snaps and bites and the end of every line.
Brown's voice sits somewhere between the Savages' Jehnny Beth and Jim Morrison. A flavour of the Doors is also reflected in the chiming keys of second track Send It On Over and the driving guitar of Je Ne Me Connais Pas reminicent of the riff from Soul Kitchen.
Whilst anchored around garage rock, the band also branch out into soul, funk and country at various points in the set, with Brown asking the crowd "you all like country music?" before replying to mass cheers with "well sometimes we like to play country music".
One of the highlights of the set was Athlete with it's catchy "thought you were the athlete but I caught you in a dead heat" chorus which provides the evening's biggest earworm.
Elsewhere the contagious bassline of Food For Thought finds Brown telling the crowd "give me all your children and I'll show them how to congregate" over handclaps and a dreamy combination of guitar and keys.
Despite displaying much of the primal energy of garage rock, perhaps best showcased by the relentless drumming of Jordan Manley, Mattiel kept it tight with choruses and riffs lingering like pop songs rather than disappearing behind a blaze of fuzz. No song outstayed its welcome with each offering a unique spin on the group's distinctive sound - which only increasing the audience's lust for more.
The Atlanta-based band ended the show with the tremolo soaked Whites Of Their Eyes having built on their popular Glastonbury set with a raw, intimate and infectious show increasing their fast growing reputation.
- For more Norwich music check out our dedicated page every Thursday in the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News or follow Enjoy Music More on Twitter and Instagram
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