Be Forest visited Los Angeles last night.

Last night's Part Time Punks lineup featured two-thirds-female Italian shoegaze trio Be Forest (headlining in time for International Women's Day!), supported by San Francisco act VANIISH, whose frontman Keven Tecon was once a member of PTP favorite Wax Idols.

Where the two acts lack originality, they compromise in musicianship; VANIISH in particular is well aligned with fellow '80s-inspired dark wave act Wax Idols, albeit playing with three of its members lined up in an untouchable wall -- this metaphor applies musically as well as visually -- and where drummer Nick Ott borrows heavily and consistently from "Atrocity Exhibition," he does it skillfully and gracefully.



Be Forest, meanwhile, bodes well for the continuation of the current shoegaze revival and could easily open for Ride's reunion tour if the stars were aligned for such (though they did open for Slowdive in Padova last summer, which is just as fitting). In promotion of 2014's stunning Earthbeat, the young band played a dazzling set that was cool and collected, breezy and controlled. Erica Terenzi, who came from the Moe Tucker/Frankie Rose school of drumming, switched places with guitarist Nicola Lampredi toward show's end, demonstrating that the pair are extremely interchangeable in skill and energy, and the set concluded as consistently as it had begun.





For the real stuff, though: Now that lyrics have been posted, is it possible that Earthbeat was lyrically inspired by the Twilight series? See below for samples:

Captured Heart:
I would like to fall in love, and then have a broken heart 
it’s better you run away from me 
‘Cause all my life I have been dead inside

Lost Boy:
I want to know if you can change your life and not betray your own soul 
I just want to know but i don't care who you are. 
I want to know if you can see the beauty and don't hide your eyes 
I don't want to know how did you get here. 

I don't care what you have lived 
I don't care how old you are 

Hideaway:
Everyone is gone 
with their fangs 
You are alone and you've nothing left to lose 
How can it feel this wrong baby? How do you feel? 
They don't know who you are 
Nobody knows

Sparkle (obviously about Edward, from the perspective of Bella):
My feet are covered 
under soft roots 
Tonight is the last one, 
he tells me 

Don't cry for me: I am not here. 
I'm not sleeping. I am a thousand winds that blow. 
I'm a sparkle in the snow. 

If you can hide in the fog and fend off the dust 
can you see this endless joy? 
It's the power of the life 

Don't cry for me: I am not there. 
and then i leave