Jane Hendry, The Nymphs, Northcote Social Club, 18th May 2011

Made it to the Northcote Social Club in time to catch an a-capella set from vocal quartet, The Nymphs on a chilly Wednesday night.

You’d be forgiven for thinking you’d just walked into a circa 1943 military cabaret – 4 part vocal harmonies with all the sass and choreography for the time – and the sound in this brilliant venue was superb.

Singing a mixture of stuff from the early 1900′s, the 30′s and 40′s, and a version of Stevie Wonder’s Part Time Lover arranged for their recent appearance at the Queenscliff Music Festival, the four girls from Melbourne (Sisters Jane and Clare Hendry, Kel Day and Bek Chapman) kept a good sized crowd entertained throughout their 45 minute set.

But I’ll be honest – it’s not really a genre I can take more than a few songs of in succession.

Closing the night with the ubiquitous tune by the Chordettes - Mr Sandman – The Nymphs had some members of the crowd scratching their heads trying to identify the segue into a different song…

If you’d seen the girls on ABC’s Spicks and Specks, it may not have come as a surprise, but Metallica’s Enter Sandman got the Nymphs treatment, morphing from a hard rock testosterone fueled track to something you could imagine sipping a cherry soda too at the local diner in the 50′s.

(more…)