Yacht, in Jägervision
On Friday, December 18th I went to Cassette Number Nine in Auckland to catch YACHT – a two-piece from Portland, Oregon. Musician and multimedia artist Jona Bechtolt formed YACHT in 2003 and has released numerous albums and EPs under the pseudonym. Claire L. Evans joined YACHT in 2008 and their joint effort ‘See Mystery Lights’ was released earlier this year.
I had never heard of them before — they were recommended by a friend — but my curiosity grew after reading their MySpace page. Amidst glowing reviews from a lot of famous people and magazines (highly entertaining, and a bit weird) I found an interesting description of the band: YACHT is a Band, Belief System and Business, anyone can become a member, and that they are NOT A CULT. Furthermore, YACHT stands for “Young Americans Challenging High Technology”, and, Wikipedia lists their genres as indie rock, disco, grunge, electropop, and glitch. I knew I was in for a treat.
Cassette was busy when we arrived; apparently YACHT has a large fan base in NZ (which was awesome to see). Unfortunately the line was so long we missed the opening act — Auckland indie band The Sneaks. When we finally got inside we saw a screen set up above the stage (YACHT are known for their intricate PowerPoint presentations). The anticipation was palpable as people jostled for a good spot in the narrow venue.
After making us wait for what seemed like an eternity, YACHT burst on stage with the opening track of their new album: “Ring The Bell.” This is a chanty, futuristic song where Bechtolt asks: “Will we go to heaven/or will we go to hell? It’s my understanding/that neither are real.”
With Bechtolt’s shock of black hair and smart white suit contrasted against Evans’ cropped bleached hair and tight black dress, the pair looked like yin and yang. Added to this, they broke straight into a choreographed dance routine, throwing themselves around the tiny, low stage in perfect unison. I was in love from the get-go.
For a brief moment the music stopped while we were given an informative, impressive PowerPoint presentation about where Portland is situated in relation to Auckland. What followed from there was an hour and a bit of pure, unadulterated fun.
Every song was catchier than the last. YACHT fed off the crowd, becoming more passionate and energetic as their set went on. They were a joy to watch; Evans contorted her long limbs into strange shapes and jumped into the crowd; Bechtolt bounced around like a man possessed. Their songs have a happy, melodic, child-like freedom about them, broken every now and again by a brutal, heavy dance beat that you can’t help but move to.
They finished with the fantastic, addictive track “Psychic City (Voodoo City)” – a sunny, pretty pop song with just the right amount of *strange* to make it uniquely YACHT. This will be on repeat in my soundtrack of the Summer.
My last words on YACHT: go see this band.
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