Karen Ponzio Photos
Lys Guillorn & The Void Kittens
Friends gathered, greeting each other with wishes for a happy new year while music swelled all around them. A New Year’s Eve gathering, perhaps? Actually, it was the night before, as Best Video was the setting for the penultimate night of 2022 — and who better to bring it through than local favorites The Sawtelles and Lys Guillorn & The Void Kittens?
The crowd gathered early to catch up and discuss the year that passed, but they did not have to wait long for the music to begin as The Sawtelles — Julie Riccio on drums and vocals and Peter Riccio on guitar and vocals — took the stage both adorned with winter hats and ready to share music from their brand-new album, Reruns and Pilots #2. The album, released in mid-December, is the second in a series of records that offers new music but also finds the duo revisiting some of their previously recorded pieces in a new way.
The Sawtelles
“I’ve decided I’m not playing standard tuning anymore, and that I’m bringing standard tuning songs over to alternate tuning, and that’s what part of the Reruns and Pilots series is,” Peter explained. “It’s a mixture of new songs and older songs redone, mostly brought over from standard tuning, so however that goes.”
If the audience reaction was any indication, it went stunningly well. The duo slid easily into its own unique style of music — songs that take the listener on a trip through the main roads after midnight and through the backroads at the break of dawn, with lyrics and licks suffused in a dark and dreamy rock ‘n’ roll that stays in your bones long after you hear it. It’s a style the band has perfected in their decades together as staples of the Connecticut scene. They managed to play a lot in 2022 — Julie noted that they played around 40 shows this past summer — much to the delight of their fans. (In fact, they were a last-minute addition to the show when the original opening act could not make it.)
“He had to be here anyway, so it was the path of least resistance,” Julie joked about Peter, who is also the drummer for the Void Kittens.
“We’ll play anytime, anywhere,” Peter added. “If we can’t do that by now, I’ll just throw my stuff in the dumpster.”
Nine songs later, if you did not understand the band’s commitment to that ethos, then you were not paying attention. Everyone at Best was fully absorbed in the songs from the new record, like “Headed Home (love cracks the code),” and songs from the Riccios’ seemingly endless back catalogue, like “Decipher” and “Lose Her.” Lyrics that invoke teenage Jesus and long car rides were brought to life with sweet harmonies and catchy hooks, and the duo’s banter with each other and the audience brought just as many smiles as their songs. Their admiration for each other also shone through.
“I’m sitting there rehearsing and thinking if it wasn’t for Julie and the parts that she comes up with, that the songs wouldn’t be as good somehow,” Peter said. “Because there’s only so far you can take one guitar part and one voice and she really brings it to some other crazy universe that I really, really appreciate … this batch of songs is brilliant.” The audience responded with applause, and Julie responded with gratitude and agreed about the songs.
“I know, I told you I’m totally in love with them,” she said. “I’m not down with the newer stuff yet because I still haven’t left my love affair with these new songs.”
The audience seemed to be having a love affair with them too, and the band shared that love after their set was over, and before Peter had to join the next set.
“If something is wrong get it checked,” said Lys Guillorn before their set, a sentiment they echoed from Julie, who had announced the PSA at the beginning of the first set. Guillorn then added, “if something is wrong with our sound let us know.”
Nothing was wrong and everything was right, as Gulllorn on guitar and vocals, Eric Bloomquist on bass and vocals, and Peter Riccio on drums blasted through a beat-heavy, rocked out set of 13 songs that, not unlike the previous set by The Sawtelles, took classics and shook them up a bit to give them a little extra fizz, like champagne right before you uncork it. The song “Sunny Side Down” — which always gets heads (and often a few hips) shaking — sounded fresher and ripped harder than ever, and “How To Make a Mountain,” often played on banjo and in a more Americana style, felt almost anthemic is its new iteration. Guillorn was more than ready for the new.
“How about we just call 2022 tonight?” they announced after a rousing cover of Wanda Jackson’s “Funnel of Love.” “9 p.m., that’s it. It’s done. Tomorrow’s just gravy.” Many wooed in agreement with that plan.
The band continued with newer songs like “Sassafras,” “Cartwheels,” and “Wisdom Teeth,” and also reached back for well loved favorites like “Wolverines.” Guillorn also shared a story about what happened to them at Best Video last time they played the song “Hand to Heart.”
“Last December I played this song and proceeded to bleed all over my guitar and pedal board,” they said. “I promise not to do that tonight. Famous last words.” (No blood was spilled on this evening.)
For the final song, a new one titled “Angel,” Guillorn called on the audience to join in for the chorus, which was, aptly enough, “be not afraid.” From the front row seats to those standing near the coffee bar, the crowd joined in with both vigor and ease. It was a felicitous way to not only end 2022, but to begin 2023.
