Roman Is Better

Kubichek!/The Patricians @ The Plug, Sheffield 28/04

Kubichek! are proof that perseverance pays off. Having been tipped to be "The Next Big Thing" for the last two years or so, someone has finally decided to give them a chance and put out an album. The frustration that those years in limbo must have caused them comes across in their performance. Whilst lesser bands would have no doubt gone under or given up, Kubichek! stuck with what they do and fuelled all their anger into their music. Given the current trend for average run of the mill post-punk bands (stand up Switches!), it would be easy to dismiss Kubichek! as another in a long line of delay pedals and 16ths, but none of them sound as angry, passionate or down right pissed off as Kubichek! do.

Tonight sees Kubichek! on top form, running through choice cuts from their debut lp. As you would expect from any post-punk band, there's lots of dum-tish-dum-tish drum parts but coupling this with a steady diet of Fugazi and Washington harDCore, Kubicek! demonstrate the edge they have over many other bands. True, recent single "Nightjoy" could well be compared to Editors own brand of Joy Division-lite, but it doesn't sound as lazy or have the "will that do?" vibe that Birmingham's dullest have. Lyrically, Kubichek! deal with crushed ambition that comes from living in a small town. "Hometown Strategies" talks of those who fail to see that they "hometown's aren't everything" whilst the frankly brilliant "Stutter" applies to failing relationships, rubbish friends, rubbish parties and rubbish nights out. Even their token slow song is called "Hope Is Impossible". It certainly is grim up north. Having said that, Kubichek! avoid appearing as po-faced miserablists. They throw themselves around Plug's relatively small stage with far more energy then you'd expect from a band who've been touring for so long and even provide some comic relief in the form of a story about Henry Rollins' first band being called The Cranberries.* They finish with "Just Shut It Down", throwing themselves into a feedback laden outro. And that's it. One of the best live bands in the UK at the minute? Probably.



*Obviously it wasn't The Cranberries. It was S.O.A., fact fans.

This Song Is A Film

Public Relations Exercise/Her Name Is Calla @ The Firebug, Leicester 07/04
Rotary Ten/Fang Club @ The Grapes, Sheffield 14/04
Flatlands/Battle Of Wolf 369/Kaddish/some crust band @ The Cricketer's Arms, Sheffield 18/04
YouCodeNameIs:Milo/Actionier @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 19/04

Instead of reviews, today I shall be dealing in recommendations in the form of myspace links:

1. Public Relations Exercise. Probably the best band in Leicester, but don't let that put you off. PRE do post-hardcore with stops and starts much like At The Drive-In, Glassjaw or even Hot Cross. Their singer is called Fats. Have a listen.
2. Flatlands. Flatlands come from Sheffield via way of Lincolnshire. Their songs generally deal with coming from little towns and villages put to a soundtrack of Isis-style atmospheric, epic metal. It might even be doom metal. I'm not too sure. All good.
3. Rotary Ten. These boys also come from Sheffield via Lincolnshire but they're not metal, which is a shame. Instead they sound a bit like The Smiths but with American Football-esq guitar parts thrown in. Whatever.

So not the best post, but a necessary one.
Next week's calender features Heart/Yeah! and Silver Mount Zion. Should be big.
BYE!