One of the many positives to the Great Escape’s flexible lineup is when the more lovelier bands contained within sign on for more than one set, ensuring maximum exposure and giving their fans no excuse to miss them during the festival. This year has another healthy slab of such bands, which the TGE team have been nice enough to list here, and nestled away amongst it is a name we know quite well. German alt-pop outfit Ballet School are one of the bands 7bitarcade got to know back in 2012 in the original incarnation of our Band of the Day feature, and you could consider us foolish for not tracking them as closely as we should more recently. The Great Escape offers the perfect opportunity to get reacquainted however, and with the band having three sets scheduled during the event, there is little reason for anyone else to pass up the chance to join in.
Last time we took to Ballet School, it was ‘Sara’ and ‘Ghost’ under the microscope, but the Berlin-based trio have been busy since then. 2013’s Boys Again EP is the latest development, and the four-track release offers a quarter hour of blissful, danceable rhythms that are bound to sound glorious when the three-piece arrive on the south coast next month. ‘Yaoi’ and ‘Crush’ ensure that the record kicks off the right way, and by the halfway point you’re swimming in a world far more vibrant and colourful than our own. Such is the effect of frontwoman Rosie Blair’s intoxicating vocals, backed up by herself and Michel Collet on guitar to form a seamless double team. Louis McGuire was a later addition to a band that came together through Berlin’s bustling DIY scene and has held together since, entering 2014 looking better than ever. ‘Heartbeat Overdrive’ is a soaring effort to keep momentum rolling as the EP continues, with Blair on top form and McGuire driving the track with a simple but highly effective backing on drums. ‘Ghost’ offers a guitar line plucked right out from the mind of an ’80s post-punk nostalgic, dressed up nicely to fit in and wrap up the EP with a solid finale.
Like ‘Ghost’, ‘Sara’ has aged well and while it seems somewhat of a mismatch when lined up to more recent efforts, the slower, more atmospheric side of Ballet School is an interesting change of pace that can’t be ruled out from making a return when the time comes for the trio to release a debut album into the world. ‘Thirteen’ is a similar nod to the band’s more laid back side, with the simple combination of Blair’s voice and an acoustic guitar not being the sort of sound that you can tire of easily. It’s a perfect cooldown to later efforts which make avoiding the urge to bounce around a near impossibility. ‘All Things Return At Night’ is a step back in that direction, acting almost as a middle ground, head-bobbing instrumentals to back up the often eye-raising range that Blair boasts. It’s difficult to predict which way the vocals will take each track, with every new track shaping up as a fresh journey; twisting and turning from start to finish in a way that almost demands a constant repeat.
Ballet School’s forte is not a sound that grows old at all, it simply grows greater, never boring but always managing to wow you. Highly recommended by all who are familiar and pulling out all the stops to leave Brighton buzzing, it can’t be stressed enough how unmissable the trio are going to be next week. If any band deserves repeat slots at this year’s event, you’ve just read all about them.
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