Bettie Serveert will be performing this Saturday night, armed with an arsenal of new songs. For their first visit to Tucson, they will be headlining The Rialto Theatre’s Club Crawl set.
Formed in 1990, the Dutch band released their 1992 debut Palomine to critical acclaim (Their name translates as “”Bettie to serve,”” a reference to Dutch tennis player Bettie Stöve). Despite brandishing a personal indie rock sound that is familiar, yet defies easy references, and touring with the likes of Jeff Buckley, Dinosaur Jr. and Superchunk, they were never able to crossover into the mainstream during the ’90s.
The band has fared better stateside during the past decade, and their latest effort released in March, Pharmacy of Love, reflects a band rediscovering their essential sound.
“”A lot of people told us at shows that they really appreciate our music, but they said when you play live it sounds way more raw and spontaneous and that we may have polished the albums before a little too much,”” said Bettie Serveert guitarist Peter Visser. “”Well, if we play live — and they were totally right — if we play live we might get to that sound a little bit more.””
To capture the sound of their live shows, Visser said that during recording, the band members stood together in a circle and performed each song a few times. Then they chose the best version of these performances. They went into the studio and recorded the entire album within just four days.
“”We thought that recording so quickly might make it a little more urgent and less comfortable, which gives a certain edge that we sometimes had with playing live shows,”” Visser said.
Joppe Molenaar, drummer of Dutch band Voicst, joined Bettie Serveert for the recording of Pharmacy of Love and is currently touring with them. Visser said that because Molenaar is a relatively new collaborator with the band — he has been drumming for them for about two years, according to Visser — he keeps everyone on their feet. Visser recalled one show in Holland where Molenaar provided the band with a creative spark.
“”At the end of a song, Joppe played a lot of stuff that no one knew what was going on. There (were) a lot of pauses in between his drumming. We started to play with him and for some reason we all hit it at the same time that he did, and we did not when he did not. But we didn’t look at him. So it was almost like one person playing with eight hands. After that was done and we were back in the dressing room, we all looked at each other and said, ‘Well, what was that?’ That was totally amazing,”” Visser said.
Since the return of various ’90s bands in recent years, including former tourmates Dinosaur Jr., Come and Pavement, Visser said U.S. audiences have been really open to the band. He hopes to enjoy Club Crawl with friends from local band Giant Sand before performing.
“”We’re looking forward to hanging out with cool bands and hanging out with a lot of cool people, and playing the best of our abilities,”” Visser said.
