In need of Care Bears
Leeds based Furious Bears are a four piece from Leeds that (musically at least) are neither furious nor bears, although one of them is a boy. We've nipped into Retro Bar to see how the Female Trouble In The City showcase is getting on and arrive just in time for the start of their set.
It's all quite minimalist and raw in a late 80s kind of way and they remind me of bands like Dolly Mixtures. You know that quirky indie vibe? To their credit they only formed late last year with their first gig this April so it's still very much early days and in many ways it shows, there is a hell of a lot of fret watching from the guitarists, particularly main vocalist Rosie. If they stopped worrying about hitting the right notes and let loose with the performance a bit more there might be the odd mistake but it would make for a much better performance, as it is nobody's moving much at all.
Guitarist Martha seems the most confident and the better musician and when she gets her chance to sing she seems to relish in the opportunity to let rip. Did I mention that they are all wearing furry bear ears? I can't decide whether the whole thing is very cute and quirky or whether it's just a bit rubbish, thankfully the last two songs 'I am not Small' (& there's plenty of irony there) & 'If You're Dancing (then I'm Leaving)' up the ante just enough to demonstrate some real potential. They probably need to define their sound a bit more, tighten up quite a lot, be more confident in their own ability and vary the pace of the songs a bit more but there's enough there to warrant the effort – just.