There are very few people as mesmerizing on stage as Kristin Hersh. [For those of y'all who want to see for yourself, she's playing some solo dates and some shows with 50 Foot Wave in the coming weeks.] But let me tell you this. Elizabeth Elmore of the Reputation is well on her way to evoking the same guitar-grinding, dominant womyn rock star sensibility that has thrilled so many Hersh fans, and I'm grateful for having been introduced to her discography.
The Reputation's show at Black Cat on Thursday was full of high energy and fast music, all buoyed by Elmore's sweet-but-tough vocals and nose-to-the-grindstone guitar work. The other band members did more than their fair share of contributing to the energy and tone of the show, but it was obvious who the star is here. Elmore's self-deprecating banter and beer guzzling further endeared her to me, especially when she forgot some lyrics, lost her guitar (briefly) to a power surge, and then quipped that it was their last show of a two and a half month tour, but that it must have seemed to the audience like their first. Nope, not at all.
This group knows how to play together on stage - and in the studio, as evidenced by their new album "To Force a Fate". [I've heard some tracks from their s/t debut, and it's more of the same greatness.] Though Elmore seems a bit bitter about the circumstances of Sarge's break-up, "not my choice - for the record," she's moved on to another respectable and crowd-pleasing ensemble. Let's hope Elmore rocks on in whatever form she chooses for many years to come.
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