There’s a toy aquarium and a plushie situated atop one of the amps at Brighton Music Hall – unique accent pieces to be sure, but far more prominent is the stage-wide banner behind everything, bearing the name of Spanish band Hinds, who – along with their audience – are about to have quite a Monday evening. As soon as the four members appear onstage they’re greeted by chants of “VIVA HINDS!”: that’s both Spanish for “long live Hinds!” as well as the title of the band’s latest record. Singer Carlotta Cosials shouts, “When I say viva, you say Hinds!” and does a bit of back and forth with the crowd, but honestly they probably didn’t even need the additional encouragement. Stage right, hoisting her guitar strap over her head behind her keyboard setup, is Ana Perrote, the second half of the band’s core duo. Previously a four-piece, the genesis of this album cycle found them venturing forth as two; but they’ve found additional companions in bassist Paula Ruiz and drummer María Lazaro, with the former also contributing backing vocals.
As bands often do for a thematic touch, their set begins with the header of the latest album, fittingly titled, ‘Hi, How Are You’. It’s the perfect intro song to both: a restrained, scratchy, early-2000s guitar pattern teases something big to come, and soon Perrote’s synths sweep in like an effervescent storm – close your eyes and you can picture the erratic little sine waves they’d register on a spectrogram, frantic peaks and valleys working in concert to make up the gorgeous swells. As they did for 2020’s The Prettiest Curse, Hinds continue to put forth a gorgeously well-honed vision of all the things guitar-driven pop can be. It’s no surprise, then, that they attracted the attention of the likes of Beck, ever the shapeshifter himself, who features on single ‘Boom Boom Back’. “Do you wanna fall in love in a bar tonight?” asks the hook. How about pairing up with a “broken heart”? The lyrical scenes and lead guitar radiate a certain kind of seediness or desperation, but it’s coupled with that timeless pairing of sultry intrigue, mixed up in the desire to feel the excited heartbeats evoked by the title of the song.
The band have equal aptitude all across the emotional spectrum, whether they’re turning banal industry-bro drivel into the candy-coated glory that is ‘Just Like Kids (Miau)’, or waxing more introspective with ‘Stranger’. The recorded version of the latter song features Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C., who arrives over a bassline reminiscent of New Order. The crowd is more than happy to dance to both of those and more, and Cosials remarks, “It’s clearly not Monday night in this venue right now’. She thanks everyone for coming, detailing how they’ve nearly reached the end of their tour, having been stateside for essentially the whole month of October, snaking west to east across the country. They continue with the lower-key ‘The Bed, the Room, the Rain, and You’, which spotlights Perrote’s synths, and she plays double-duty on the following ‘Good Bad Times’, seated at the keys but with her guitar across her lap, alternating between the two.
As a preface to ‘Superstar’, Cosials reflects on the path the band has taken to get to this moment – at the end of a tour with a crowd of thrilled faces looking back at them. They’ve had their share of tumult in addition to the recent lineup changes: early in the band’s life they had to make an unexpected name change (“Hinds” references their original name, “Deers”), and the pandemic era following the recording of The Prettiest Curse found them bereft of management and record label in addition to the universal uncertainties of that time. Yet they’ve re-emerged as the best version of themselves so far, touring across continents, their music encompassing two languages. Across their new lineup it’s clear that their friendships run deep – ‘Castigadas en el granero’ sees Perrote, Cosials, and Ruiz all leaning out over the crowd at the front of the stage, arm in arm, all smiles.
For their final two songs, they bring a guest onstage – I can’t quite hear her name, but she’s evidently been at a couple shows of the tour so far, and happened to impart to the band that she plays guitar. Seconds later, she’s being walked up onstage and affixing the strap of a guitar around herself. They bridge their Spanish-language ‘En Forma’ into a hyped-up cover of Thee Headcoats’ ‘Davey Crockett’. Cosials walks to the end of the subwoofer in front of the stage, and steps out onto the barricade rail – first she’s simply grasping an outstretched hand for balance, but then she’s motioning to a tall, broad-shouldered man in the front row – he turns, and she descends to sit on his shoulders, still singing into the mic through all of it, to the joyous awe of everyone around them. At the finish, she clambers back to the stage and once again locks arms with her bandmates, this time with Lazaro emerging from behind the kit. Their guest player makes them five in total, and the embrace recalls the close of their ‘Superstar’ music video. As before, they’re all smiles, the crowd mirroring the same back at them with raised arms.
The cheers are deafening when the band have disappeared from the stage – Cosials reemerges, confessing they didn’t have a plan prepared for this, but saying one more heartfelt thank-you before walking forward to shake hands and sign things. It’s an unforgettable show to be sure, but one that also bears additional local significance as exactly the 500th installment of the Fenway Recordings Sessions, curated for many years by industry veteran and BMH staple Mark “DJ Carbo” Kates. And as far as ways to mark such a milestone go, one can’t imagine much better than a band with as much energy as an explosion of confetti, and an audience with enthusiasm to match.
Photos and review by Collin Heroux
