Bear Hands Debut New Songs at Forecastle Festival

During the first full day of Forecastle Festival in Louisville, KY, Brooklyn quartet Bear Hands tried to invigorate a languid, early evening crowd with their brand of upbeat indie rock.

The band opened with 'Golden' from their titular titled EP, then played the affable 'What a Drag' from the new split 'What a Drag/Can't Stick 'Em' single. While Lady Gaga t-shirt-wearing bassist Val Loper beat on a kick drum and shook maracas, the camped out crowd began dancing to the infectious tune. Supporting the band, a fan wore actual fuzzy bear hands and posed for pictures in front of the stage.

Lead singer Dylan Rau asked if anyone in the crowd was from Chicago, since they were set to play two shows there the next two nights with another Forecastle band, We Were Promised Jetpacks. Halfway through their 40-minute, seven-song set, the band sarcastically mentioned, "Our pedal problems are fixed; we can play a show now," referring to the slight delay at the beginning of their performance.

The new songs continued with 'High Society,' 'Can't Stick Em' and the slowly paced 'Camel Convention,' all of which will be on the upcoming full-length they're currently prepping. Trying to keep the audience on their toes, Rau joked, "We're the Smashing Pumpkins," paying homage to the band headlining later that night. Bear Hands' new songs hinted at psychedelia and even notes of tribal infusion, especially on set closer 'Tablasaurus,' when the band generated a lot of percussion reverb from the drum kit and a kick drum. After playing the penultimate song, Rau told the crowd they'd been doing everything spontaneously today -- that'd it had just been one of those days. Hopefully the rest of their festival experience wasn't too much of a drag.