Kera And The Lesbians 2014 cARTel stage

Kera and the Lesbians, hailing from San Diego and currently residing in Los Angeles, lovingly refer to their musical style as ‘bipolar folk’. Bipolar in the sense that in one song drummer Michael will pound his drums, expelling his demons with sheer force, while Kera croons and screams and serenades, enchanting all within earshot. Eamon’s guitar playing is reminiscent of sleepy desert afternoons, spent on porches accompanied by the smell of leather and aging wood, while Phil’s bass lines get the crowd moving and grooving. Brandon’s use of brass is at once warm and rounded, but so tactfully manipulated that it inevitably raises goosebumps. The lyrics more literally embody the band’s polarity, telling tales of anxiety, friendship, insanity and ill-fated love, from Kera’s very unique point of view.

This is a band to see live. Kera’s passion is tangible, at times bringing the crowd to tears, but most consistently keeping a dancing crowd completely enraptured, hanging onto every word her very expressive being has to sing. She brings heaps of charm to the set, with her joking between songs and her Elvis-like dance moves, it’s obvious that she and the whole band live for this. Their range has allowed them to perform with a diverse list of acts including Devendra Banhart, Best Coast, and Crystal Castles.

The band has a definite DIY work ethic, having self released two EPs, and a debut coming out early 2014. They also do their own booking and artwork internally. Their newest release “YEAR 23″ is manic covering one of Kera’s most aggravating habits and instilling in the listener a mounting feeling of tension that it mercifully relieves, while still giving a taste of the madness of obsession.