NYC’s Sunflower Bean SHAKE Manchester @ Yes Pink Room

Words and photos by Kaitlyn Brockley

Fresh off the back of a UK tour supporting indie giants Wolf Alice, Sunflower Bean are busy riding a wave of hype that has been a long time in the making. Four albums deep, it seems that the world is finally catching on to the magic of Sunflower Bean – and it’s about time. 

Playing the sold-out Yes Pink Room, a local independent venue renowned for digging out the best new names, a mixed audience gathers eagerly, trading a frosty Thursday night for an intimate evening of live music. Naturally, Wolf Alice shirts dot about the crowd, demonstrating the impact of their live shows, but the age is a complete spectrum: fresh 18 year olds crane over heads of balding dads, or grandads even. 

Kicking the night off is Human Interest, a duo project of Cat Harrison and Tyler Damara Kelly spawned from a WhatsApp chat of the London kink scene, somehow spiralling into a full blown band by adding lead guitar and drums into the equation. But this bizarre set-up makes perfect sense: in one moment Kelly drops to his knees at the feet of Harrison as she sways around with bass in hand, seeming to almost like the guitar. The band are high energy, lively with a sexy swagger reminiscent of The Last Shadow Puppets. “Hot Air Ballon” (“about air travel”, Kelly noted”) is slow and meandering, almost waltzing; Harrison’s gentle, breathy vocals melting into Harrison’s behind swooning guitar riffs. Standout moment is found in a song never played live before, inspired by Sunflower Bean’s ripping “SHAKE!”, which sees the four-piece take a heavier turn, almost a forgotten track from Arctic Monkeys’ Suck it and See era. And Harrison has that same slightly dry charm, he commands the room with a single flick of the hand as he tells the audience “we have t-shirts, I know you were wondering” before launching into “Pinch Me”, a more conventional indie track that demands to be heard in a festival field, cider in hand.

Then it’s Sunflower Bean’s time, and they march out to warm applause, frontwoman Julia Cumming breezing around, hair flailing in a floating dress Stevie Nicks would be proud of. Despite the hectic tour schedule, Bean burst into their set with the pep of a band just starting out, but the polish of a band who have perfected their craft over many years. They breeze through cuts from their new record “Mortal Primetime”, and despite its infancy the crowd know every word. “Who Put You Up To This?” receives a warm reception, thanks to its feature from endearing Netflix teen drama Heartstopper, but mostly because of its cinematic quality: suddenly you are in Cumming’s shoes, whisked away to a New York rooftop, hair streaming behind you like the album cover. 

“Easier Said” is rummaged from the archives, much to the crowd’s surprise and joy. In the music video, Cumming is scrunched on the back of a motorbike, wearing angel wings the same bright white as her pixie cut, looking slightly doe-eyed at the crowd. Here she stands defiant, dark hair fanned around her, staring directly into the eyes of the audience. It’s a clear marker of how far the band has come – the twinkly Smiths-esque guitars have been traded in for T-Rex glam rock swagger, and as a result the song gets an upgraded, beefed up to match their new sound. 

Their rock and roll swagger couldn’t be clearer to see than in “Mortal Primetime”, during “Somebody Call a Doctor” Cumming parts the crowd, racing up and down before collapsing in the middle, lying on the slightly sticky floor of the Pink Room as faces crowd around her, the quite literal centre of attention. “No Bills in Heaven” sees the Stones’ influence coming through, and “Nothing Romantic” is a glittering glam rock power ballad. 

But it’s in their more tender moments were the magic of Sunflower Bean can be found. “I Knew Love” sees flashlights sway in the air, illuminating the band in an angelic glow as Cumming croons about being left alone, whilst the arms of the audience wrap around the ones they love. “I Was a Fool” and “Twentytwo”, second album cuts, receive the warmest reception, but that’s not to discredit the new material – the earlier songs have had time to sit with the audience, for memories to attach to them which is what Sunflower Bean do so well. Every song could be picked from a coming-of-age film, that cinematic quality that makes you want to lean your head against a rain-splattered window and watch the world blur around you. On first glance they may be all rock and roll swagger, but dig deeper and they’re even more than that: rock stars with a heart.

Full gallery of photos from Yes Pink Room here!