Relatively fresh Berlin post punk band Kamoos threw a release party for their new single “X-ray Me” on Valentine’s Day, and it what a swinging affair it was.
Yeah I know, everyone hates V-Day, but the choice of capitalizing on the holiday by the band and venue, Toast Hawaii, felt like a playful eye-roll.
There were heart-shaped balloons, someone giving out heart stickers, a raffle to win vinyls, and apparently tarot (though I didn’t see it).
All the kitsch turned the atmosphere festive and light-hearted, making everyone in the audience seem like they were really having fun. People were actually mingling, which for Berlin, is pretty surprising. The whole event kind of felt like a singles party, or at least a house party with the heat turned up, which I guess was the idea.
Kamoos emergedall in red under the pink lights (quite a bit later than planned) after Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” faded into silence. The same song would mark the end of their set. I’m not sure if this was a conscious decision from the DJ or not, but I thought the track was quite aptly chosen. The band’s “weird sexy post-punk” had the same eerie psychedelic sound and lead singer, Juliette Wallace was definitely giving off some Grace Slick, belting valkyrie vibes.
The songs actually sounded a bit like break-up tunes, not the whiney kind, more like strong and damning, a curse.
Kamoos at Toast Hawaii
I also noted that the sound was quite similar in feeling to guitarist Verita Egert’s other band Voodoo Beach, the same droning and creeping riffs somewhere in between post-punk and psych, though with a grungier, perhaps angrier twist.
The songs actually sounded a bit like break-up tunes, not the whiney kind, more like strong and damning, a curse. I actually got some Heart vibes as well, maybe I was just influenced by the color-scheme, but I think it was the power of the vocals and the unabashed sensuality of the performance, girly but rough.
Juliette entertained the very enthusiastic crowd and joked about Valentines, then closed the set with a lively number, that would make everyone want to dance, she said. It sure, did. The crowd demanded more. “We don’t have anymore”; the band actually played their full repertoire, which was relatively extensive for a newish group. They finally decided to play a cover.
After Kamoos’ set, two artists came up to cover their single “Xray me”, Berlin locals, Le Vent, and an unannounced electronic artist I didn’t catch the name of. This was a cool idea that demonstrated the song’s complexity and quality, though I wish the other artists had performed a few more songs as it seemed like they would in the event description.
Everyone continued to dance and celebrate into the night, like any truly successful party.
