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.

EP Review: Sennen – Destroy Us

Sennen’s sophomore album Where The Light Gets In was an absolute gem that while critically acclaimed, was criminally overlooked by the record buying public at large. The album proved the band to be blessed with the same ear for irresistible melody as prime period Teenage Fanclub as well as the ability to embark on breathtaking instrumental excursions worthy of Explosions In The Sky.

This brand new 6-track EP provides us with more of the same. The title track is bursting with the joyous melancholy of early Flaming Lips and, thankfully, their cover of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle is far from the ill advised stab at a sacred cow that one might fear - stripping the song of its traditional Baggy-fied beat, the band fully expose the melancholy which lies at the core. Bringing things to a close we have Figurine, a billowing, wintry ballad which then leads into the scorching jam that is the final track, Out.

Like many young artists Sennen have to juggle their true calling with their day jobs, taking time off work to tour and record. Hopefully, until rock stardom is secured, their employers will remain understanding as this is another vital slice of sumptuous indie rock that bodes well for the new album.

Album Review: The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love

Album opener Crystal Visions sets the scene straight away, beginning with psychedelic, twinkling-in-the-sunset lead guitar that would sit happily anywhere on The Verve’s Storm in Heaven. Then Milo Cordell pushes the red button and the track suddenly lurches into a wide-eyed, fringe-flicking groove, MBV guitars haemorrhage in the background whilst Robbie Furze’s chanting channels the cool detachment of Jason Pierce. The punctual Too Young To Love clatters in immediately afterwards, with a beat which sounds a lot like the one from Boards Of Canada’s Kid For Today, but at ten times the speed with added JAMC squall and Happy Mondays swagger. The slightly less exhilarating but just as infectious recent single Dominos is up next, which brings to mind early Secret Machines.

On the title track the band deploy some breathy female vocals; Furze and Joanne Robertson exchange mantras during this gorgeous, feedback-drenched lullaby. Imagine Ian McCulloch and Hope Sandoval trying to hypnotise each other in the front row of a Telescopes concert. Frisk and Count Backwards From Ten showcase The Big Pink’s skilful way in which they fuse fuzzed-up guitars and pulsing electronica, keeping the music organic enough to avoid sounding clinical, and the latter track’s leering drone closes the album.

The Big Pink are a band who wear their influences clearly on their sleeves, so much so that this album could have been called A Brief History of British Indie Circa 1990. As with a lot of music of this ilk, the lyrics are murky and at times too self conscious. This is something typical of the shoe-gaze genre though, a scene where an other-worldly aloofness is almost expected. Many of the words murmured on this album feel functional, simply there to fit the melody. But, keeping things simple but effective seems to be The Big Pink’s general rule of thumb. One could argue that The Big Pink’s influences are obvious, but as the talented duo have cherry-picked only fantastic influences to throw into the mix, they’ve produced album that is up there with the best that their direct musical ancestors have to offer. A Brief History of Love is a more than welcome addition to the ongoing dream-pop revival.