Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
On Further Review
by NIKHIL GUPTA
by NIKHIL GUPTA
The Scene: TT the Bears - 5/5/2009
Reinventing Dance with Rock 'n' Roll: Over the past few years I’ve grown accustomed to crowds crossing their arms and simply nodding their heads in collective agreement when they’re at a show. (And that's when they're enjoying themselves!) So you might imagine how totally thrown off I was by the audience reaction last week to Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles. They generated smiles and something very much akin to dance: there was hip movement. Not only were people dancing from their hips, but their knees, arms, and ankles were involved in some cases. Playing to a hometown crowd, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles touched a cord that apparently had been itching to come out!
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
from left: Lyle, Binky, Sarah and Rob
from left: Lyle, Binky, Sarah and Rob
The Broken Singles' new album (in stores now) is called, The Stars Are Out. The crunchy guitar-driven first cut on that record has Borges remembering “What my mama said to me. She said when it’s real love you know you do it for free.” It’s hard not to instinctively fall in with the band when Borges sings, "I want you to want me all over again” in “I’ll Show You How.” She knows how to work a line, a chord, or a devilish smile so as to wrap her listeners around her little finger.
Speaking to Borges before the show, I realized what a charmer the singer really is. Writing out the set list, she looked up with pleased eyes when I wished her a good show. I told her I had seen her at Toad in Porter Sq. a few months ago for an acoustic set and that I was excited for the whole band’s performance tonight. She thanked me kindly, and as she walked over to the rest of the band she stopped and looked back at me, asking, “But what if it’s a bad show?” The devil was in her eye. Bad show? Impossible. With the band's amazing performance still before me - I had, literally, seen nothing yet!
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
"Do It For Free" Video
"Do It For Free" Video
The crowd at T.T.’s was all tied up in Borges' performance last week. When they weren't dancing - they were mesmerized. Lyle Brewer’s guitar hooks perfectly translate 50’s and 60’s rock into the country-themed songs of gritty need, loss, dirty-dancing with your sweetheart, and local infamy that Borges belts out. On stage Borges insisted that she liked drummer Rob Dulaney best because he said the least of all the Broken Singles, but the crowd was indebted to his stellar drumming for keeping their feet moving on the floor. And somehow Binky, the band’s bassist, found time to thank the audience repeatedly for their enthusiasm between his own bursts of pulsating rhythmic riffs. Really, this band is a sweet-tasting cocktail - one that packs a hell of a punch and leaves you smiling all night long. A very good time.
Watching the Broken Singles play, you feel as though you absolutely must be at the next party they’ll be at. If that’s not possible, they’ll at least write you a permission slip for whatever you skipped in order to see them, or for whatever you won’t be able to do the next day because you enjoyed yourself that much at their show. In the spirit of their standout song that night, “Better At The End Of The Day,” Borges sent me home with my own note excusing my potential cloudiness of mind the next morning. It doesn’t get any better than Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles. A phenomenal live night at TT the Bears.
Our Writer left the Sarah Borges show with this:
His Very Own, Hand-Written, Permission Slip
His Very Own, Hand-Written, Permission Slip
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