Champion Trees are a Cape Town-based indie rock band in the vein of ‘90s alternative rock pioneers Pavement, Silver Jews, and Belle and Sebastian. Their sound has the energy of garage rock while the driving basslines and Johnny-Marr-inspired jangly guitars give their songs a post-punk feel. Singer Francis Christie’s vocals are delivered in a deadpan that perfectly complements the intimacy of the song’s lyrics that are candid and sometimes sardonic.
Champion Trees are definitely for fans of bands like Alex G, AJJ, Wilco and Bright Eyes. This combination of stark, emotionally weighted songwriting over a guitar-heavy indie pop sound has had a resurgence in popularity with Elliot-Smith-indebted indie rock headline artists like Soccer Mommy and Phoebe Bridgers, who, like Champion Trees retain a pop sensibility but favour a stripped back approach to songwriting, production and live performance.
On their debut album, Now 3000, Champion Trees riff on the ridiculousness of pretty much everything. Although the album has so many funny and unpredictable references to Cape Town, South Africa, Christianity, sport, and literature, Champion Trees largely choose to laugh at themselves. This is clear from songs with titles like, “I Get My Ass Kicked For You” and “The Case for Procreation”.
The lines on the album’s fourth track 555, “The band is in the local dive/ Crooked little lullaby/ That the kids call the rock and roll”, could easily have been written to describe this Saturday night at EVOL on seedy Hope Street where I find myself waiting on a sweaty dance floor, flanked on all sides by couples making out, for Champion Tree’s to launch their new album. They have a lot of energy for a band whose Instagram bio claims that “Champion Trees is the Phil Jagielka of indie rock,” (Jagielka is an aging British footballer who plays for a not-so-good second division club). This level of self-deprecation is a mainstay across their debut albums’ 42 minutes.
Indie slacker jazz-cats Hartleyvale open the show with their signature improvisational take to smooth indie pop that goes from a downtempo sound (similar to Homeshake) to an altogether messier psych rock sound embellished with guitarist Ryan Stopforths’ sexy sultry guitar solos.
By the time that the headline act takes the stage, the crowd has been excitedly shouting “Champion Trees!”, and they do not disappoint, going full force in executing their album in its entirety starting with comical prelude “Langa in Japan”, that is performed straight into “Californ-I-A”, a jangly indie pop song about a girl who pronounces California funny.
The packed crowd loves it and shout the lyrics back at them enthusiastically. Their set also includes covers of 90s British indie rockers Pulp’s Babies and prolific lofi bedroom artist Alex G’s Gnaw.
Finally the band works the mob into an overflowing frenzy that sing-screams along to the closing track “Glass” – a stunning high tempo dance-punk number off the band’s self-titled EP released in 2017. Lady Adi neatly closes the show playing a fine selection of disco, house and hip hop bangers.
All pics courtesy of Pierre Rommelaere.
