Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs come on home to Atlanta

December 11, 2008, at the Earl

By Beverly Bryan
Published: December 13th, 2008 | 6:10pm

With its décor somewhere between a ’60s lounge and a southern grandma’s living room, the Earl’s backroom made a fine setting for Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs’ final night of touring in support of their second album, Dirt Don’t Hurt (Transdreamer).

The three-piece band had to rearrange some of its gear before starting. “It’s just not the way I left it — which is the best way to come home,” Golightly said. Before going on tour, Golightly and Lawyer Dave (who is the Brokeoffs) purchased a house in Danielsville, Georgia, a tiny town they will now call home.

Golightly, in a black beehive, and Lawyer Dave, scruffy and shoeless, played hollow-bodied electric guitars, which made blues songs like their doomy “Devil Do” both sharp and resonant. That one, with its “ain’t nobody gonna love me like the devil do” refrain, got the band cut off at a Salt Lake City hot chocolate bar. “It’s funny, because it’s true,” Golightly said, giving one the feeling it had been a long tour.

Golightly sings in a terse nasal twang, yet speaks mellifluous British English. She can also descend into a surprising, breathy sultriness that evokes Bobbie Gentry, as she did with “Indeed You Do.”

The Lawyer sang some and played a jury-rigged drum kit with the snare mounted on a milk crate. Delaney Davidson of New Zealand helped out with backup vocals, harmonica, tambourine, and spoons. Davidson, wearing a black suit and tie with hair slicked down, opened the show with a Nick Cave–esque set — though the point when he left the stage to waltz with the ladies was pure David Lynch.

Holly Golightly’s latest collaboration finds the garage-rock doyenne at her rootsiest. The repertoire draws deeply from southern blues and country gospel and includes a few traditional tunes. Mind you, with songs like “Gettin’ High for Jesus,” the duo’s take on country gospel is strictly for the black of heart. They mostly stuck to what Lawyer Dave called “domestic violence numbers” such as the plainly threatening, “My 45.” “We don’t mean to do this but they just are the best numbers, aren’t they?” asked Golightly.

Between songs, the well-honed, frequently obscene stage banter was non-stop. “Every day is Halloween for us,” Golightly quipped, as she introduced the creepy “Just around the Bend.” “I’ve been a zombie all year,” came Lawyer Dave’s punch line.

The band seemed frustrated with the subdued weeknight crowd and Golightly promised a free album to the first person to get on stage naked. “You guys are so polite, it’s like being back in civilization,” she said. If she was pleased, it was hard to tell. In time, musicians and audience settled into a mutual disaffection and there was no encore. But that was proper, really. You don’t seek out these folks for good vibes.

For more photos from this show, visit Venus Zine's Flickr page.

Review of Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs' Dirt Don't Hurt