Gig Review: Dead Little Penny @ Wine Cellar, Auckland – 15/11/2019

Dead Little Penny played their album launch gig at the Wine Cellar on K Road. Their debut album, Urge Surfing, was released the week of the gig and received many positive reviews, including my review for Muzic.net.nz here. The night promised the opportunity to hear new tracks as well as the handful of singles that made me a Dead Little Penny fan, when I first heard and saw then in the early part of 2019.

I’ve been listening to their single Depression for many months now, and it was a joy to hear it played live. The band put on a great performance for an attentive crowd, with the three-piece sounding bigger than their parts predict, but look at the sound the White Stripes made. Like the White Stripes, they have tight musicianship, and their music is muscular.

Their songs came across as being flung at the crowd. The emotion in their lyrics is raw, their vocals are experimental and their performance was a balance of decisive professional talent and ease. Ease that perhaps comes from being part of the same rich music scene which I’ve been lucky enough to sample many times over, during my first year in Aotearoa.

Dead Little Penny have heaps of talent. They are authentic and have a beautiful electro-driven dirge sound. I look forward to seeing them again.