It wasn’t until the middle of last week that I heard of a show that was being put together that may feature Brooklyn’s Spanish Prisoners. I was immediately psyched by the news. After hearing of their show at Yes.Ou.Si a couple weeks ago and listening to the band’s Daytrotter session from a couple of years ago, I got a better idea of what I was in for. My curiosity was piqued once again when I showed up at Halfway House for the first time and noticed that all of the power was being run out of an upstairs bedroom. I must say that this is a venue that I am excited to return to in the near future. The stage was set, now I awaited to see what these guys could do live.
If Mugatu were a real person, he might say, “paired vocals are so hot right now.” The truth is, it’s the truth. I’ve seen a lot of bands lately, and the trend I’ve picked up on most is that the dual-lead singer really adds another element of energy. Spanish Prisoners do it a bit differently, however. Leo Maymind and Amberly Hungerford weave into beautiful lows and highs. Collectively, their harmonies are the driving force of the band and are draped perfectly over their synth-heavy foundation. Sometimes spacey and other times really funky, the band’s diverse battalion of material kept me on my toes throughout the whole set.
For a DIY show, the environment was really focused. This wasn’t a garage band gone reckless in a basement. It was art gallery intellect in a Friday night atmosphere. Head nods of approval from the crowd reflected Hungerford’s charismatic tambourine shakes as the band journeyed through their colorful catalog of indie-pop, mostly from this year’s Gold Fools. It wasn’t tiresome, and had a cutting-edge quality similar to a Craft Spells or Gardens & Villa.
The night was a reminder why Brooklyn is decorated with so much talent. It was their gift to Allston for the night. No shoving, no belligerence, but a chance to witness a band that could very well find their way into regular rotation on college radio stations and Spotify playlists in the year to come. Spanish Prisoners were truly an embodiment of what is going right in today’s indie scene.
-Perry Eaton
Photo Credit: Daniel Schiffer
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