Live Review: Yuck – The Joiners Arms, Southampton 17/02/2011

Yuck may be the buzz band of 2011, but they are a godsend for anyone still stuck in the year punk broke. The band’s self-titled debut is littered with references to the cream of the class of ’91. The sad, sedentary vocal delivery and the melodic guitar lines that litter Holing Out and Get Away are pure J. Mascis and they have a mini-Teen Age Riot in the urgent riff-o-rama, Operation. Elsewhere on the album, lush, languid, lo-fi ballads such as Suck and Suicide Policeman recall Pavement’s most tender moments.

But unfortunately for Southampton, none of the above is to be witnessed live tonight. All thanks (allegedly) to a blowtorch left on all day in the Chinese restaurant adjacent to the Joiners Arms, which caused noxious fumes to filter into the building while local support band Dead Rabbits were soundchecking. The fire brigade arrived, the police cordoned off the pub, and the disgruntled punters reluctantly piled into the nearby Plume and Feather, all hoping that they would be allowed back in to their much-loved locale before the night grew too old.

Certain excited members of the amassed crowd began liaising with members of Yuck and their tour support Fanzine, and a plan was hatched. The idea was to transport the band with their equipment to the nearby Soul Cellar venue, where they could set-up and play. This idea was run past Yuck’s tour manager who curtly declined the offer, as the gig had to be official due to contractual reasons. It’s best not to argue with tired tour managers, and this one was no exception, not least because he seemed to have, rather implausibly, two glass eyes. So, it was to be Joiners or nothing. But, at 10.30pm it was officially announced by the now very weary and stressed tour manager that the gig was off.

Since then, it has been announced that the gig will be rescheduled and it has been confirmed by the Southampton Guildhall Box Office that anyone who can’t attend the new date can get a full refund.

During sound check on the 17th, before the drama unfurled, Yuck’s otherwise charming drummer, Jonny Rogoff was overheard sneering: “Southampton has no real Rock ‘n Roll scene”. Let’s hope that the sheer optimism, dedication and passion displayed by the sizeable crowd who braved the bitter cold (and St. Mary’s Street) that night in the name of Rock and Roll has changed his mind.

Live Review: The Radio Dept & Team Ghost - Bush Hall, London 20/05/2010

Parisian Post-rock/Electro noiseniks Team Ghost are first to take the stage on this balmy May evening in Shepherd’s Bush. The band is fronted by ex-M83 cohort Nick Fromageau who has now teamed up with composer Christophe Guerin and producer Jean-Philippe Talaga. Opening track Blood instantly evokes the singer’s former band as ambient strings meld with echoing piano - but the serenity is soon interrupted by unforgiving, brutal guitars that lay waste to the first half of the song like wildfire would acres of treasured forest.

Fromageau’s vocal is pitched somewhere between Brian Molko’s bi-curious burr and the scuzzball drawl of J.Mascis. Additionally, the spooky melodies and Krautrock rhythms of Deaf give an idea of what a collaboration of The Horrors and Deus might sound like. Tonight’s special guests give the crowd a healthy slab of MBV Candy-pop with A Glorious Time before ending with the exhilarating disco thrills of Echoes. Team Ghost’s music aims for for the heart and for the feet, and if they continue to score direct hits like they do tonight they are likely destined for big things.

But the reason this ever so elegant venue has sold out tonight is, of course, for the rare chance to see Swedish Dream-pop recluses, The Radio Dept. Singer Johann Duncanson ambles awkwardly onstage, followed by hulking bassist Martin Carlberg and moustachioed keyboard maestro Daniel Tjader. The band, tastefully backlit by a sparkling starcloth (supplied by Ed Warren of Next Level Lights) kick off the proceedings with the joyous jangle of This Time Around and follow it up with recent single Heaven’s On Fire, both tracks from new album Clinging To A Scheme. This upbeat opening salvo is followed up with the red-eyed reminiscing of I Wanted You To Feel The Same and the fuzzy recollections of 1995.

Duncanson expresses his deepest sympathies for our countries’ current political climate before playing placid protest song Freddie And The Trojan Horse, the thumping beat-box and reverb drenched lead guitar of the intro drawing huge cheers from the crowd. The Dub Reggae rhythms of Never Follow Suit, and the delectable Lo-fi drone of Keen On Boys bring the seemingly short set to an end. Thankfully, the band do shuffle back on stage after the house lights go up for an unplanned encore, and we get to hear the best song the Pet Shop Boys never wrote: Worst Taste In Music. Here’s hoping the success of tonight will mean that greater commercial gains will be in store for this criminally overlooked Dept.