Seeing Thingz

"So I wandered down toward Union, and in another alley outside the Alliance Francaise was the highlight of my evening, Seeing Thingz, a Venice Beach trio who it turns out, as often is the case with festivals, weren't even on the bill - they'd just commandeered the alley with a battery-powered amp for fun. A stand-up drum kit. A Django vibe. An apparently French gamine chanteuse. Kids were dancing, grabbing strangers up from the ground. I was shooed off the sidewalk, which ordinarily would bother, but the young woman who did so said it was just so the cops didn't shut the band down for safety reasons. "Please don't go because of it," she smiled. They handed me their CD: "You'll Be Glad You Did." And I was. This was a kismet gypsy street jam like music was meant to be." - Pasadena Star-News

By Beeb Ashcroft

You'll Be Glad You Did by Seeing Thingz is creative, wild, quirky – and brilliantly done. The songs are killer, with excellent songwriting and delivery, bringing us rich textures of sounds that are at once humorous and beautiful. Vocalist Gwendoline has an evocative voice that floats over the music as it changes from intense rock, to introspective piano melodies, to carnival music ... seamlessly.

The first track on the album is "Summer Sun," a compelling pop piece with great guitar work. "Infinite Silence" blasts us off to another planet, as Gwendoline sings, "I hear aliens singing my frequency." It's quirky and gentle until it explodes into a rock crescendo.

Next up is the hip-hop overtones of "The Eel," followed by the standout cut "Bits and Pieces." Sounding like a game of cops and robbers, you hear the vocalists sing "Pow! Punch punch! Bang bang!" over an ominous bassline. It's hilarious, bizarre, and mesmerizing.

A French child narrates the beginning of "Beautiful Moon," which feels like a 1940s movie theme meets frenetic pop. "Night Driving" is a dark track punctuated by eerie sounds - it's extremely atmospheric and intensely captivating.

"Flying" starts off slowly and builds with a furious intensity. Seeing Thingz have an knack for perfectly combining quiet music with hard rock. "Pieces of Spring" is an intensely sad song driven by a beautiful piano melody.

We hear crazy carnival music in "Pensee," which is sung in French; but they quickly switch gears from the circus to the sweetly melancholy tune of "Sadness and Grace." "Covenant" starts out softly and grows into an almost haunting climax. "Zen Garden" is the last cut on the album, and its catchy melody lays a good foundation for the humorous vocals, where Gwendoline chants about the rat race: "Get up, make money, go home. Get up, make money, go home." The song ends, or so we think, and there is silence for a few seconds. Suddenly, a sort of spoken word piece begins, with eerie sound effects and an almost Bjork-like, apocalyptic feel. Then it fades out, and this extremely unusual album comes to an end.

Even though each song is different and includes a huge variety of styles and influences, it all works, and never sounds unfocused – because it's all so uniquely them. You should definitely give this disc a spin – because you'll be glad you did.

Indie-Music ProfileIndie-Music Profile - Indie-Music.com

The music of Seeing Thingz, the accordion-laced mash-up of Parisian jazz and '90s art rock, dictated a routine of limber swaying from frontwoman Gwendoline. - Los Angeles Times

Seeing Thingz
Par Coralie Garandeau | 05/01/2010 | Catégorie: Spotlight

Une poupée rouge, une Carmen style french cancan qui ouvre les bras et agite ses longs doigts. La gorge déployée elle rit sur scène, mais bientôt les cordes de son guitariste coiffé d’un haut de forme vont venir couper cet élan et mettre la zizanie dans ce bonheur de carte postale.

Bienvenue dans l’univers de Seeing Thingz, groupe franco-américain à fort pouvoir imaginatif et à tendance cabarettiste. Les quatre musiciens « voient des choses » depuis 2007, et font l’apprentissage de leur art en concert à travers tout le grand Los Angeles. Du Downtown Art Walk au Good Hurt de Venice, les Seeing Thingz apprennent à s’accorder au rythme des discussions de bar et des sons de la ville, à s’accoutumer à l’obscurité des salles et aux festivals de banlieue désert.

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Seeing Thingz c’est Gwendoline Père-Lahaille à la voix, avec Daniel Day à la guitare, cosignataire des textes et musiques, et entourés de David Rodgers et de Doug Townsley à la basse et aux percussions. Récemment Mélis les a rejoint pour un premier concert et fait répondre son violon à la chanteuse, dans un duo aigû et délicat.

En piochant au hasard dans les références de Seeing Thingz, on remarque des voix et des solides références rock comme Laurie Anderson, PJ Harvey , Bjork ou Barbara, mais on sent aussi que ce quatuor le groupe veut aussi s’étirer vers l’Est - en plus d’être de Montpellier et de Los Angeles - vers les contrées des fanfares tziganes. On sent donc la bohème dans Seeing Thingz, par petites touches distillée, mais ce qui achève de vous mettre sous le charme, c’est aussi le « franchouille » du groupe lorsque la musique absorbe les sonorités parfois surannées de la langue française.

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Si la majorité des textes sont en anglais, sur un ou deux titres, Gwendoline joue avec sa langue maternelle, et martelle « dans ta tête d’allumette » sur fond de notes d’accordéon. Sa voix délicieusement éthérée, qui peut devenir franchement rocailleuse ou enfantine, mène l’auditeur sur les chemins qu’elle a tracés. Les paroles impressionnistes vous transporteront sur des routes nocturnes, les soirs de lune éblouissante, vers des jardins zen. Laissez vous porter. « You’ll be glad you did », c’est le titre de leur premier disque.

- The Ben Franklin Post

Totally diggin Seeing Thingz (at Dakota lounge in Santa monica). Gypsy rock ballad experimental soul FTW! http://twitpic.com/2gc33

losanjalis
anjali taneja
Mar 25 2009 - Twitter

"This is love-making music" - Xanthia Pink

The song is cool, kind of like Karen Carpenter singing over a down tempo Massive Attack track with Tom Waits joining in. MVSW March 26th 2009
- MVSW

Editor Picks: Editor's Pick ~ Seeing Thingz
Posted on Friday, May 01, 2009 @ 23:28:47 PDT - Indie-Music.com

by: Mike Showalter

Hypnotic and eerie music that will surprise you.
- culture mob