MV&EE @ Miss Peapods, 11.02.08

After a run of quietly spectacular gigs in 2007 (Jack Rose, Jeffrey Lewis et al), Falmouth-based Lono Records' latest coup (and their list of forthcoming dates) only added to the unanimity that they're the saviours of truly alternative music in Cornwall. Preceeded by the yodelling, herb-referencing Simon Drinkwater, and Andrew Hockey's off-kilter pop-psych jams, MV & EE delighted the largely bearded crowd (the male contingent at least) with sprawling, 20-minute renditions of songs from their exponentially expanding back catalogue (anything written about the band will undoubtedly feature the word "prolific").
Both the more subtle, woody songs from recent album, "Gettin' Gone", and its crunchy Americana-tinged numbers were similarly burnt by an intriguing conversational drone and lysergic pounding rhythm, which, at times, could rightly have been labelled self-indulgent, but under the head-nodding influence of Miss Peapod's potent organic cider, a harsh stop to a song might have seemed unfair, and amputative. However, it'd be unrealistic to state that every 20-minute opus was a pleasure to hear - whilst the set seemed impressively built around intuition for the other musicians, it would perhaps have been more satisfying to hear them draw from further into their past recordings, with a little more tonal texture.