So it's about that time of the year when the message boards and blogs are a buzz with talk of who's going to be hot and who's not in the year 2008, the time of year when magazines run articles called things like "The Class Of 2008" and include bands that you were listening to last year. Because, let's face it, you're a hip indie bastard. But in this post 9/11, post-Web 2.0 age, there's so many bands to listen it's almost impossible to know who to look out for, who to name drop and who to avoid; it's getting harder and harder to tell your Twang from your Tunng. In order to help you wade through such shit as Jo Lean And The Jing Jang Jongs and find some good new bands, I've assembled this handy guide to hip new(ish) bands for 2008. GO!
Johnny Foreigner - Champagne Girls I Have Known
We kick off proceedings with this little nugget of noisey indie rock. Johnny Foreigner manage to sound like all the good shouty indie bands of yesteryear with out sounding like they belong in 1998. A kin to Idlewild when they could be described as "a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs" with some added nods to Cap'n Jazz. So all in all pretty good.
Fuck Buttons - Bright Tomorrow
Up next we have the indie hipster's noise band of choice, Fuck Buttons. Recently signed to ATP Recordings this song is the lead track from their debut picture disc, released last year. Avoiding the typcial noise band route of yelling into a microphone whilst playing with a delay pedal, Fuck Buttons create semi-ambient drones from layers of keyboard loops and tribal drums before adding some yelling into a microphone. If you're going to namedrop them, just describe them as drone.
DANANANANAYKROYD - Song 1 Puzzle
So far DANANANANAYKROYD have released two 7"s, both of which are sold out. They debut ep comes out on Jealous Records in March. An important thing to note is that they have changed singers since those vinyl releases. This gives you plenty of opportunity to maximize your indie credibility - if their name ever comes up in conversation simply say "Oh yeah those guys - I only really like their early stuff with the original singer; you know the guy from Kill Yourself?". With this one sentence, your friends and relatives will know that you are far cooler and hipper than they could ever be. You are indie. They are not.
Los Campesinos! - Death To Los Campesinos!
Finally, we have a band who need no introduction. If you don't know who they are then frankly you should not be on the blogosphere. If you need a bit of an introduction, they're from Cardiff, they got signed after 14 gigs and their demo set the internet on fire. Sounding like a combination of Broken Social Scene, Pavement and any other indie rock band you could think of, LC! release their debut album in February. This gives you a month or so to tell people that you liked them before they got popular. But you probably blogged about their demo didn't you?
Here are the songs.
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Thursday, 3 January 2008
A New Start
With the start of the New Year, I thought I’d redo the old blog. The original idea was for me to keep a record of every band I saw over the past year, which, whilst a good idea in theory, proved to be a lot harder in practice. Writing something mildly entertaining about every single gig gets a little tiresome, especially when most bands inspire little more than a “meh”. So I’m going to stop talking about every band and every gig; from now on it’s only the good ones. Or the really bad ones, which leads me to my brand new feature, hilariously titled “Congratulations! Your Band Sucks!”
This month’s lucky band is a four piece band from Sheffield called Flat Pack Heroes.
Picture the scene: you’re planning to go and see Liars, you think you’ve timed your arrival in such a way that you won’t have to endure the local support band. You arrive at the venue. You hear a band playing. Worried that you’ve missed the start of the band you plan to see, you hurry through to the stage where instead of seeing the familiar sight of Liars, you’re greeted by the unfamiliar sight of four boys, two of whom are topless, playing something that is best described as bad punk; a band who you cannot take your eyes off, who demand your attention, not because of how good they are but simply by virtue of the fact that they seem to be doing so many things wrong. That band ladies and gentlemen is Flat Pack Heroes.
The obvious place to start is the music – Flat Pack Heroes are best described as a punk band, in that the music they play bears the most resemblance to the Sex Pistols. However, to say they’re a punk band is to give them too much credit. The attitudes and ideas that are implied by the phrase punk seem to be lost on them. In the same way that a gig promoter will excuse poor turnouts, poor payment for bands, poor equipment and poor venues with the excuse that it’s “rock and roll,” Flat Pack Heroes excuse their poor musical output as “punk.” They represent everything bad about punk, right down to the singer’s Johnny Rotten impersonations. It slowly dawned on me that this one was one of the worst bands I’d ever seen, joining the ranks of The Charlie Brown Story, Bickle’s Cab and The Stereophonics. Not only that, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen them.
About two years ago, my old band did a gig in Cheltenham. One of the local support bands was called The Labels. They had their own banner made from an old Union Jack with The Labels written across it. They also did a cover of “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor”. I think they must have taken a lot of cues from The Arctic Monkeys because they’ve since re-located to Sheffield and renamed themselves Flat Pack Heroes (that bit was probably obvious). They’ve also made an attempt at social realism. I’ve never known a band to miss understand the point of social realism in lyrics – you write a song that the general public can relate to, most likely about how their life is depressing and unfulfilling but your life is great because you get to live your dream of playing in a band until you get dropped a year later (hello Little Man Tate). Even that guy from The Enemy can manage it. You listen to a Pulp record and go from there (or in the case of The Enemy, you steal wholeheartedly from The Jam). Not the Flat Pack Heroes. The best they manage is the charming couplet “She’s a slag/But I bet you’ve had her”. Just read that again to take in how bad it is. And that was the hook in the song. They also managed to name check Topshop, Facebook and Myspace all in one song. Once again they’ve missed the entire point.
The final nail in the coffin of their set came just before they played their last song. They mentioned they had a free demo cd available. This is a good idea. They then proceeded to throw copies of said demo into the crowd. The crowd consisted of about 30 people; only about 10 of these were stood anywhere near the front or paying any sort of attention to the band. You could hear the clatter of unwanted cds hitting the floor. I think one hit a girl on the head. I feel privileged to have witnessed such a desperate plea for recognition. In fact, I feel privileged to have seen such a terrible band.
Did I mention that two of them were topless?
More brilliant features to follow, including Hot New Bands For 2008 and My Favourite Breaks In Music. There probably won't be any more badly done Photoshop jobs.
This month’s lucky band is a four piece band from Sheffield called Flat Pack Heroes.
Picture the scene: you’re planning to go and see Liars, you think you’ve timed your arrival in such a way that you won’t have to endure the local support band. You arrive at the venue. You hear a band playing. Worried that you’ve missed the start of the band you plan to see, you hurry through to the stage where instead of seeing the familiar sight of Liars, you’re greeted by the unfamiliar sight of four boys, two of whom are topless, playing something that is best described as bad punk; a band who you cannot take your eyes off, who demand your attention, not because of how good they are but simply by virtue of the fact that they seem to be doing so many things wrong. That band ladies and gentlemen is Flat Pack Heroes.
The obvious place to start is the music – Flat Pack Heroes are best described as a punk band, in that the music they play bears the most resemblance to the Sex Pistols. However, to say they’re a punk band is to give them too much credit. The attitudes and ideas that are implied by the phrase punk seem to be lost on them. In the same way that a gig promoter will excuse poor turnouts, poor payment for bands, poor equipment and poor venues with the excuse that it’s “rock and roll,” Flat Pack Heroes excuse their poor musical output as “punk.” They represent everything bad about punk, right down to the singer’s Johnny Rotten impersonations. It slowly dawned on me that this one was one of the worst bands I’d ever seen, joining the ranks of The Charlie Brown Story, Bickle’s Cab and The Stereophonics. Not only that, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen them.
About two years ago, my old band did a gig in Cheltenham. One of the local support bands was called The Labels. They had their own banner made from an old Union Jack with The Labels written across it. They also did a cover of “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor”. I think they must have taken a lot of cues from The Arctic Monkeys because they’ve since re-located to Sheffield and renamed themselves Flat Pack Heroes (that bit was probably obvious). They’ve also made an attempt at social realism. I’ve never known a band to miss understand the point of social realism in lyrics – you write a song that the general public can relate to, most likely about how their life is depressing and unfulfilling but your life is great because you get to live your dream of playing in a band until you get dropped a year later (hello Little Man Tate). Even that guy from The Enemy can manage it. You listen to a Pulp record and go from there (or in the case of The Enemy, you steal wholeheartedly from The Jam). Not the Flat Pack Heroes. The best they manage is the charming couplet “She’s a slag/But I bet you’ve had her”. Just read that again to take in how bad it is. And that was the hook in the song. They also managed to name check Topshop, Facebook and Myspace all in one song. Once again they’ve missed the entire point.
The final nail in the coffin of their set came just before they played their last song. They mentioned they had a free demo cd available. This is a good idea. They then proceeded to throw copies of said demo into the crowd. The crowd consisted of about 30 people; only about 10 of these were stood anywhere near the front or paying any sort of attention to the band. You could hear the clatter of unwanted cds hitting the floor. I think one hit a girl on the head. I feel privileged to have witnessed such a desperate plea for recognition. In fact, I feel privileged to have seen such a terrible band.
Did I mention that two of them were topless?
More brilliant features to follow, including Hot New Bands For 2008 and My Favourite Breaks In Music. There probably won't be any more badly done Photoshop jobs.
Sunday, 11 November 2007
Too Many Gigs
The National/St. Vincent @ The Leadmill, Sheffield 3/11
Deerhunter/This Ain't Vegas/To My Bones/some other band @ Bar Saki, Manchester 7/11
Antelope/This Ain't Vegas/Heart/YEAH/Up! Periscope @ The Red House, Sheffield 8/11
The Yell/The Tigerpicks @ Razor Stiletto, Sheffield 10/11
Situationists/Just Ben @ The Harley, Sheffield 12/11
After a quick count it seems that in the space of nine days I've seen 14 bands; and of those 14, 2 were very good, 4 were good, 3 were passable, 2 were bad and 1 straight up sucked. I'm sure you're itching to know who's who, so let me tell you - The Tigerpicks were the worst. I might go as far as saying they were the worst band I've seen all year. Having been to Razor Stiletto before, I never go expecting to see anyone good play but usually bands get a good reception thanks to the "excited" (read: high) few in the crowd. However, when you're playing to a full venue and not even the non-sober people are clapping for you, you must be doing something wrong. And they were - it was a sort of Yeah Yeah Yeahs meets The Klaxons thing but without anything interesting. It spoke volumes that they'd just been signed to Sony. If there was ever a more obvious attempt at a label trying to find a marketable band and make some quick cash I'd be surprised. The Tigerpicks have everything that is so hot right now - 2 yelping girls, a laptop instead of a drummer, one guy on keyboard who's been given a trendy angular haircut, another guy on bass who's been told that he has to be the "New Rave" guy in the band so is wearing all white with a bit of neon and absolutely no songs, hooks or charisma. I fell like I should be meaner about this band but I simply can't - they're obviously going to go nowhere and get dropped faster than you can say "Jocasta" that it seems pointless. Having said that I dismissed The Pigeon Detectives as a mere Strokes copy and look where they are now. What can you do? Make fun of them on teh internets, that's what. And now onto the good bands.
For a band who released an album as good as "Alligator", putting out a follow up record must be a daunting task. Do you try and go for something bigger and bolder or do you try for something more understated? The National went for the latter, putting out "Boxer" earlier this year, a much more sedate affair compared to its predecessor. Obviously, as with any good live band, the quieter songs take on a much rawer edge live; basically The National are really good live. Their encore was a bit too long - they should have finished with "Mr November". Add to standing next to OB and Lee Hunter of Hollyoaks, I would say a good night all round. Lee Hunter seemed annoyed by the people talking in front of him. Someone tell heat magazine.
Bar Saki didn't play host to any minor soap stars but it did have Deerhunter there. Personally I would have enjoyed seeing someone from Coronation Street nodding out to the wall of sound coming from the stage area, but it was not to be. Instead, Deerhunter put in a fine performance and perfectly demonstrated why Cryptograms is one of the top 3 albums released this year. It would be a good point here to mention shoe gaze, since I believe it's making a comeback, MBV reunion and all. Deerhunter make use of the standard tools of reverb, delay and big walls of sound but add some subtle hi hats into the mix, providing a nice backbeat to the sheets of guitar noise. I don't really need to tel you this - you're reading a blog so chances are you own (or at least downloaded) Cryptograms.
Regular readers of this blog (as if there is such a thing) will no doubt notice the frequency with which I see heart/YEAH. Well I saw them again but this time they played some new songs. Their new stuff is a lot more poppy, one song in particular recalls Warren's pop punk roots with an added twist of Bruce Springsteen thrown in for good measure. The set opener, features some great guitar work from Jack. If they play your town, and by your town I mean Sheffield, I urge you to go and see them.
A special mention goes to Up! Periscope, who I've never seen before but they were very good. Quite like Hella or Don Caballero. Their stuff on myspace doesn't real do them full justice but I shall link anyway. Link.
So that's it for another week or so. I don't have any more gigs in my calender. Apart from My Bloody Valentine. Which is in June. Fucking june. Buying tickets in advance makes me feel uneasy.
If I form any more opinions on any more bands I shall write. Bye for now.
Deerhunter/This Ain't Vegas/To My Bones/some other band @ Bar Saki, Manchester 7/11
Antelope/This Ain't Vegas/Heart/YEAH/Up! Periscope @ The Red House, Sheffield 8/11
The Yell/The Tigerpicks @ Razor Stiletto, Sheffield 10/11
Situationists/Just Ben @ The Harley, Sheffield 12/11
After a quick count it seems that in the space of nine days I've seen 14 bands; and of those 14, 2 were very good, 4 were good, 3 were passable, 2 were bad and 1 straight up sucked. I'm sure you're itching to know who's who, so let me tell you - The Tigerpicks were the worst. I might go as far as saying they were the worst band I've seen all year. Having been to Razor Stiletto before, I never go expecting to see anyone good play but usually bands get a good reception thanks to the "excited" (read: high) few in the crowd. However, when you're playing to a full venue and not even the non-sober people are clapping for you, you must be doing something wrong. And they were - it was a sort of Yeah Yeah Yeahs meets The Klaxons thing but without anything interesting. It spoke volumes that they'd just been signed to Sony. If there was ever a more obvious attempt at a label trying to find a marketable band and make some quick cash I'd be surprised. The Tigerpicks have everything that is so hot right now - 2 yelping girls, a laptop instead of a drummer, one guy on keyboard who's been given a trendy angular haircut, another guy on bass who's been told that he has to be the "New Rave" guy in the band so is wearing all white with a bit of neon and absolutely no songs, hooks or charisma. I fell like I should be meaner about this band but I simply can't - they're obviously going to go nowhere and get dropped faster than you can say "Jocasta" that it seems pointless. Having said that I dismissed The Pigeon Detectives as a mere Strokes copy and look where they are now. What can you do? Make fun of them on teh internets, that's what. And now onto the good bands.
For a band who released an album as good as "Alligator", putting out a follow up record must be a daunting task. Do you try and go for something bigger and bolder or do you try for something more understated? The National went for the latter, putting out "Boxer" earlier this year, a much more sedate affair compared to its predecessor. Obviously, as with any good live band, the quieter songs take on a much rawer edge live; basically The National are really good live. Their encore was a bit too long - they should have finished with "Mr November". Add to standing next to OB and Lee Hunter of Hollyoaks, I would say a good night all round. Lee Hunter seemed annoyed by the people talking in front of him. Someone tell heat magazine.
Bar Saki didn't play host to any minor soap stars but it did have Deerhunter there. Personally I would have enjoyed seeing someone from Coronation Street nodding out to the wall of sound coming from the stage area, but it was not to be. Instead, Deerhunter put in a fine performance and perfectly demonstrated why Cryptograms is one of the top 3 albums released this year. It would be a good point here to mention shoe gaze, since I believe it's making a comeback, MBV reunion and all. Deerhunter make use of the standard tools of reverb, delay and big walls of sound but add some subtle hi hats into the mix, providing a nice backbeat to the sheets of guitar noise. I don't really need to tel you this - you're reading a blog so chances are you own (or at least downloaded) Cryptograms.
Regular readers of this blog (as if there is such a thing) will no doubt notice the frequency with which I see heart/YEAH. Well I saw them again but this time they played some new songs. Their new stuff is a lot more poppy, one song in particular recalls Warren's pop punk roots with an added twist of Bruce Springsteen thrown in for good measure. The set opener, features some great guitar work from Jack. If they play your town, and by your town I mean Sheffield, I urge you to go and see them.
A special mention goes to Up! Periscope, who I've never seen before but they were very good. Quite like Hella or Don Caballero. Their stuff on myspace doesn't real do them full justice but I shall link anyway. Link.
So that's it for another week or so. I don't have any more gigs in my calender. Apart from My Bloody Valentine. Which is in June. Fucking june. Buying tickets in advance makes me feel uneasy.
If I form any more opinions on any more bands I shall write. Bye for now.
Sunday, 4 November 2007
You! Me! Fuzztival!
Hiem/Grammatics @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 25/10
Fuzztival @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 27/10
Rolo Tomassi, Actioner, Jonny Park @ The Casbah, 31/10
So you're probably thinking "What's a Fuzztival?" Well, it's a clever combination of Fuzz Club and a festival, hence Fuzztival. See what they've down there? Dead clever. Anyway, spending a whole day in Fuzz Club can get a bit much so it's best to pace yourself and maybe avoid the breadcakes. As for the bands, Situationists were good, Pete And The Pirates definitely played, You Say Party! We Say Die! suffered from the terrible Fuzz sound, Calf By Calf sounding almost exactly like Lightning Bolt which is no bad thing and then there was the headline bands, Los Campesinos! who may be one of the indie-est bands in existence at the moment. They name check K Records, Calvin Johnson, Ian Mackaye and Henry Rollins all in one song. They are twee as fuck. They even play an obscure Pavement song. And their drummer is shit. Does it get any more indie?
Prior to seeing LC! I'd had some reservations about them; the fact that they sound quite a lot like Broken Social Scene, the fact that they got signed after 14 gigs, and the whole twee, self referential nature of their lyrics. After seeing them, I conclude that, whilst they do sound a lot like BSS (not a bad thing) they're not just a carbon copy. Their set included nods to post-rock, a brief Sonic Youth style noise section and Pavement. Lots of Pavement. That they got signed after only 14 gigs does come through in their performance - had they had a bit more time to develop their sound they probably wouldn't be stuck with some of the dud songs that pepper their set and being so obvious in some of their lyrical references; naming your only ballad "Knee Deep At ATP" doesn't exactly scream subtlety. But what can you do? In this Web 2.0 age, LC! might be the perfect band - they're big on the internet, their songs are about other songs or bands, they all wear band t-shirts, they're actually pretty good, there seems to be at least a little sense of irony (maybe) - in fact, I may christen them "Blog-Rock", which is a new genre I have just invented. So watch out for that. It's almost as good as Puzzle Pop.
As for Hiem, a special thought should go out to them. They've been playing Fuzz Club ever year for the past 4 years, always playing the same songs, still dining out on "Chelsea" being NME Single Of The Week a couple of years, always sucking and seemingly never playing a gig any where else all year. But this year they came on to a Sigur Ros song. That's about it. I think they may be slightly fatter. Good work guys.
And a final word on Rolo Tomassi. For a group of 18 year olds they can play. Good costumes as well. I think the guitarist might have been dressed as one of Sunn o))). The Casbah was hosting the rock society's Halloween party and they seemed to freak out quite a few heavy metal types so that must be quite an achievement. If you take anything from this slightly crappy entry, it should be to go and see Rolo Tomassi. They're always on tour so it's not like you won't have the chance. Although if you don't like The Locust then you probably won't like them, so go see Los Campesinos!
BYE!
Fuzztival @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 27/10
Rolo Tomassi, Actioner, Jonny Park @ The Casbah, 31/10
So you're probably thinking "What's a Fuzztival?" Well, it's a clever combination of Fuzz Club and a festival, hence Fuzztival. See what they've down there? Dead clever. Anyway, spending a whole day in Fuzz Club can get a bit much so it's best to pace yourself and maybe avoid the breadcakes. As for the bands, Situationists were good, Pete And The Pirates definitely played, You Say Party! We Say Die! suffered from the terrible Fuzz sound, Calf By Calf sounding almost exactly like Lightning Bolt which is no bad thing and then there was the headline bands, Los Campesinos! who may be one of the indie-est bands in existence at the moment. They name check K Records, Calvin Johnson, Ian Mackaye and Henry Rollins all in one song. They are twee as fuck. They even play an obscure Pavement song. And their drummer is shit. Does it get any more indie?
Prior to seeing LC! I'd had some reservations about them; the fact that they sound quite a lot like Broken Social Scene, the fact that they got signed after 14 gigs, and the whole twee, self referential nature of their lyrics. After seeing them, I conclude that, whilst they do sound a lot like BSS (not a bad thing) they're not just a carbon copy. Their set included nods to post-rock, a brief Sonic Youth style noise section and Pavement. Lots of Pavement. That they got signed after only 14 gigs does come through in their performance - had they had a bit more time to develop their sound they probably wouldn't be stuck with some of the dud songs that pepper their set and being so obvious in some of their lyrical references; naming your only ballad "Knee Deep At ATP" doesn't exactly scream subtlety. But what can you do? In this Web 2.0 age, LC! might be the perfect band - they're big on the internet, their songs are about other songs or bands, they all wear band t-shirts, they're actually pretty good, there seems to be at least a little sense of irony (maybe) - in fact, I may christen them "Blog-Rock", which is a new genre I have just invented. So watch out for that. It's almost as good as Puzzle Pop.
As for Hiem, a special thought should go out to them. They've been playing Fuzz Club ever year for the past 4 years, always playing the same songs, still dining out on "Chelsea" being NME Single Of The Week a couple of years, always sucking and seemingly never playing a gig any where else all year. But this year they came on to a Sigur Ros song. That's about it. I think they may be slightly fatter. Good work guys.
And a final word on Rolo Tomassi. For a group of 18 year olds they can play. Good costumes as well. I think the guitarist might have been dressed as one of Sunn o))). The Casbah was hosting the rock society's Halloween party and they seemed to freak out quite a few heavy metal types so that must be quite an achievement. If you take anything from this slightly crappy entry, it should be to go and see Rolo Tomassi. They're always on tour so it's not like you won't have the chance. Although if you don't like The Locust then you probably won't like them, so go see Los Campesinos!
BYE!
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Meet Me Where The Sweat Descends
Les Savy Fav/Clockwork @ Bar Academy, Manchester, 21/10
On record Les Savy Fav are one the best post-punk bands around, almost wholly responsible for the “Brooklyn sound”, the sound of angular, delay ridden guitars and danceable rythms. Live, however, Les Savy Fav essentially become the Tim Harrington show – a one man lesson in how to be to be the perfect frontman. That’s not to dismiss the rest of the band, who play as tightly and aggressively as any new band on the block and not like a band who’ve been together for upwards of ten years. But when your singer is half naked and stood delivering his vocals from the middle of the crowd, you’re going to take a back seat.
Opener “The Equestrian” sees Harrington come onstage wearing a top hat, cloak, and a mask made of tights. As the band tears through what is probably the best song on their new record, Harrington slows removes his costume whilst delivering a vocal about sex and horse riding. By the end of the second song, he is semi-naked and running about the crowd. The rest of the band seem nonplussed, playing on as if nothing special is going on. It would be possible to claim that such behaviour suggests that Harrington's stage moves are rehearsed but there is a level of excitement in his face and stage banter, an excitement that many bands lack, which suggests that he's acting this way because he is enjoying himself as much as the crowd dancing at the front. To the people standing still at the back, who look like they're "updating their blogs", Tim sings "Yawn, Yawn, Yawn" from the sound desk, and encourages them to join in on the heart-shape hand waving during "We'll Make A Lover Of You"; not only do LSF rock the party, but they rock it and include everyone.
More stage theatrics include multiple shirt shaping, a costume made up of cricket equipment and Tim marrying two members of the audience.
As for the songs they play,most of the set is made up of material from the new record Let's Stay Friends. Whilst on record some of the tracks sound a bit flat, they all come good live, particularly the dead sexy vibe of "Patty Lee" and the final call of "nineteen-ninety nine, nineteen-ninety nine's alright" during "The Year Before The Year 2000"; the frankly awesome "Raging In The Plague Age" sees a single audience member get on stage and reveal himself to everyone present. If you're going to try and upstage LSF try not to get thrown out. And the we have the encore. One more costume change and they're back on; ripping through "Who Rocks The Party" (clue: Les Savy Fav rock the party) and going straight into an awesome rendition of "ROME". And then it's all over as quickly as it begun. Simply, LSF are better than pretty much any band around. Here's to next year's ATP.
Les Savy Fav - "ROME"
On record Les Savy Fav are one the best post-punk bands around, almost wholly responsible for the “Brooklyn sound”, the sound of angular, delay ridden guitars and danceable rythms. Live, however, Les Savy Fav essentially become the Tim Harrington show – a one man lesson in how to be to be the perfect frontman. That’s not to dismiss the rest of the band, who play as tightly and aggressively as any new band on the block and not like a band who’ve been together for upwards of ten years. But when your singer is half naked and stood delivering his vocals from the middle of the crowd, you’re going to take a back seat.
Opener “The Equestrian” sees Harrington come onstage wearing a top hat, cloak, and a mask made of tights. As the band tears through what is probably the best song on their new record, Harrington slows removes his costume whilst delivering a vocal about sex and horse riding. By the end of the second song, he is semi-naked and running about the crowd. The rest of the band seem nonplussed, playing on as if nothing special is going on. It would be possible to claim that such behaviour suggests that Harrington's stage moves are rehearsed but there is a level of excitement in his face and stage banter, an excitement that many bands lack, which suggests that he's acting this way because he is enjoying himself as much as the crowd dancing at the front. To the people standing still at the back, who look like they're "updating their blogs", Tim sings "Yawn, Yawn, Yawn" from the sound desk, and encourages them to join in on the heart-shape hand waving during "We'll Make A Lover Of You"; not only do LSF rock the party, but they rock it and include everyone.
More stage theatrics include multiple shirt shaping, a costume made up of cricket equipment and Tim marrying two members of the audience.
As for the songs they play,most of the set is made up of material from the new record Let's Stay Friends. Whilst on record some of the tracks sound a bit flat, they all come good live, particularly the dead sexy vibe of "Patty Lee" and the final call of "nineteen-ninety nine, nineteen-ninety nine's alright" during "The Year Before The Year 2000"; the frankly awesome "Raging In The Plague Age" sees a single audience member get on stage and reveal himself to everyone present. If you're going to try and upstage LSF try not to get thrown out. And the we have the encore. One more costume change and they're back on; ripping through "Who Rocks The Party" (clue: Les Savy Fav rock the party) and going straight into an awesome rendition of "ROME". And then it's all over as quickly as it begun. Simply, LSF are better than pretty much any band around. Here's to next year's ATP.
Les Savy Fav - "ROME"
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Caught By The Fuzz
Strange Death Of Liberal England @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 27/9
The Brakes/The Xcerts @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield, 4/10
The Rascals @ Fuzz club, Sheffield, 11/10
Foals/Cut Off Your Hands/The Great Eskimo Hoax @ Plug 10/10
White Mice/some other guys om laptops @ The Red House 15/10
The new University year sees the return of Fuzz club, a good excuse to go out and watch a crappy band with bad sound and then dance to some indie hits and get beer spilt on your jeans and shoes. The first three weeks of this year don't disappoint - Strange Death Of Liberal England sound terrible and seem so much worse than the last time I saw them, despite them playing exactly the same set; maybe their performance losing something in a venue as large as Fusion or maybe their poor man's Silver Mont Zion shtick was more obvious. Brakes and The Xcerts were both bad and The Rascals were so bad that no-one bothered to clap them. Being friends with Alex Turner doesn't guarantee you tunes. Just look at Milburn.
As always, the indie disco provided some interesting song choices. Steve Lamacq playing Supergrass' "Caught By The Fuzz", whilst highly appreciated by the slightly older attendees, did seem an odd choice; a quick bit of maths tells me that any freshers present would have been about 8 when it came out. I'm not sure what my point is - maybe that I'm getting old. Another interesting one was Foals getting played fairly late into the night. That's the power of Yoof TV for you.
Speaking of Foals (subtle link, no?), their gig at Plug was an exciting affair. At least it was for the kids down the front. Once again the power of Yoof TV - it kind of reminds me of the speech at the end of this video. But maybe I'm too cynical. I was stood at the back. The less jaded me would probably accept the Ian Williams guitar worship and post-punk drum beats and be glad that it's not another band that sound like The Libertines. But I'm jaded and cynical so as far as I can see they only have one song and it goes bum-tish-bum-tish with some guitars that sound like they belong on American Don. One Foals song is good. 8 Foals songs are grating and repetitive.
As for White Mice, the half hour spent wondering around Sheffield trying to find the venue and the subsequent hour or so wait for any sort of band to play was rewarded with a fine set of noise rock, fairly reminiscent of Lightning Bolt but with added noise. Such are the wonders of DIY.
That's your lot for now. Sunday is Les Savy Fav in Manchester. Let's hope I have more to say about that.
The Brakes/The Xcerts @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield, 4/10
The Rascals @ Fuzz club, Sheffield, 11/10
Foals/Cut Off Your Hands/The Great Eskimo Hoax @ Plug 10/10
White Mice/some other guys om laptops @ The Red House 15/10
The new University year sees the return of Fuzz club, a good excuse to go out and watch a crappy band with bad sound and then dance to some indie hits and get beer spilt on your jeans and shoes. The first three weeks of this year don't disappoint - Strange Death Of Liberal England sound terrible and seem so much worse than the last time I saw them, despite them playing exactly the same set; maybe their performance losing something in a venue as large as Fusion or maybe their poor man's Silver Mont Zion shtick was more obvious. Brakes and The Xcerts were both bad and The Rascals were so bad that no-one bothered to clap them. Being friends with Alex Turner doesn't guarantee you tunes. Just look at Milburn.
As always, the indie disco provided some interesting song choices. Steve Lamacq playing Supergrass' "Caught By The Fuzz", whilst highly appreciated by the slightly older attendees, did seem an odd choice; a quick bit of maths tells me that any freshers present would have been about 8 when it came out. I'm not sure what my point is - maybe that I'm getting old. Another interesting one was Foals getting played fairly late into the night. That's the power of Yoof TV for you.
Speaking of Foals (subtle link, no?), their gig at Plug was an exciting affair. At least it was for the kids down the front. Once again the power of Yoof TV - it kind of reminds me of the speech at the end of this video. But maybe I'm too cynical. I was stood at the back. The less jaded me would probably accept the Ian Williams guitar worship and post-punk drum beats and be glad that it's not another band that sound like The Libertines. But I'm jaded and cynical so as far as I can see they only have one song and it goes bum-tish-bum-tish with some guitars that sound like they belong on American Don. One Foals song is good. 8 Foals songs are grating and repetitive.
As for White Mice, the half hour spent wondering around Sheffield trying to find the venue and the subsequent hour or so wait for any sort of band to play was rewarded with a fine set of noise rock, fairly reminiscent of Lightning Bolt but with added noise. Such are the wonders of DIY.
That's your lot for now. Sunday is Les Savy Fav in Manchester. Let's hope I have more to say about that.
Monday, 24 September 2007
The Saddest Platform
Tired Irie/Rotary Ten @ The Charlotte, Leicester 8/9
Nathaniel Green/The Little Explorer/This Ain't Vegas/Spy Versus Spy @ The Cricketers Arms, Sheffield 9/9
Heart Yeah/Fury Of The Headteachers/So So Modern @ Corporation, Sheffield 12/9
Gossamer Albatross/Wow! She Must Be A Hundred Feet Tall/Napoleon IIIrd @ The Raynor Lounge, Sheffield 28/9
I've been avoiding updating this here blog for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure why - given that the Spy Versus Spy gig I went to was probably the best gig I've been to, you'd think I'd have some interesting things to write. But I don't. I'm literally without speech.
I thought about writing about "puzzle pop" which is a new genre the NME has invented. As far as I can see, it's code for bands what sound a bit like Battles or are a bit math-rock and have lots of equipment. So that's So So Modern (Time signatures + Devo + lots of keyboards), Tired Irie (Battles + expensive equipment - good ideas) and Foals (Battles + aluminium necked guitar + "American Don").
My other thought was to write about Spy Versus Spy being brilliant and a discussion on finger pointing and emo mosh. But I'm not going to. This is turning out to be a bad blog. My only excuse is that I'm ill. Which I am.
I shall finish with a request: if anyone reads this and plays the drum, email me.
Nathaniel Green/The Little Explorer/This Ain't Vegas/Spy Versus Spy @ The Cricketers Arms, Sheffield 9/9
Heart Yeah/Fury Of The Headteachers/So So Modern @ Corporation, Sheffield 12/9
Gossamer Albatross/Wow! She Must Be A Hundred Feet Tall/Napoleon IIIrd @ The Raynor Lounge, Sheffield 28/9
I've been avoiding updating this here blog for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure why - given that the Spy Versus Spy gig I went to was probably the best gig I've been to, you'd think I'd have some interesting things to write. But I don't. I'm literally without speech.
I thought about writing about "puzzle pop" which is a new genre the NME has invented. As far as I can see, it's code for bands what sound a bit like Battles or are a bit math-rock and have lots of equipment. So that's So So Modern (Time signatures + Devo + lots of keyboards), Tired Irie (Battles + expensive equipment - good ideas) and Foals (Battles + aluminium necked guitar + "American Don").
My other thought was to write about Spy Versus Spy being brilliant and a discussion on finger pointing and emo mosh. But I'm not going to. This is turning out to be a bad blog. My only excuse is that I'm ill. Which I am.
I shall finish with a request: if anyone reads this and plays the drum, email me.
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