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contents
well no, obviously gallery the beat up bloc party bloc party rank deluxe death from above 1979 redjetson duke raoul kaiser chiefs camden crawl week of fun rank deluxe david fridlund wokachika | finka | the hundred handed the fever boy kill boy budrising festival hot hot heat | the fever | the departure |
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it's so mega it's neon
oh wow, lots of things for your eyes & that... well, what's happened is this... this is everything that is complete that i we & they have been doing over the last four months. the left overs shall be dispearsed as appropriate, & in july we'll have a glastonbury special which will be fun or something, unless you weren't able to get a ticket with your name on, in which case we will be rubbing salt into the wound. but, that stinging feeling is quite good so i am not deterred in the slightest. a breif run through of what's included in this lovely panelled "bumper" issue:
firstly a gallery of covers for each month. - ruth moog |
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gallery
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the beat up - black rays defence [fantastic plastic]
01 black rays defence what?s greasy, distored, smells of crayons & is woollen? |
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bloc party
bloc party have manisfested into an amazing supergroup before even getting their debut album silent alarm on the shelves. it's understandable in theory for many reasons - they're not busy following some scene, they're a shining example of a band, independant & culturally diverse, & most importantly, they're proper good. but still, it's insane to see just how popular this darling little four piece from the east depths of london have become in such a short space of time. & people aren't ready to stop being amazed at it just yet... today is the launch of their much rated, anticipated, pre-downloaded album, & the maybe 300 hardcore who started queueing in the coldness for tickets at quarter-past-stupid-o-clock in the morning are there to witness a typical set from the party of bloc. thankfully the sound was brilliant, especially matt's drums coming through as clear, sharp & damaging as you could wish, bringing the dance art tangent into their art rock sound. they didn't limit their set to songs from the album, though all previous singles where played, helicopter & so here we are being obvious favourites of fans, and a significant highlight finishing the set with the wonderful little thoughts, which was left off the album. she's hearing voices never fails to enthrawl me either live or on record, & the marshalls are dead shined out in their performance as gordon took to the mic. they all seemed pretty happy with how events are shaping up that day. every body wish bloc party congratulations. they're headlining brixton academy come october. - ruth moog |
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bloc party - silent alarm [wichita]
01 like eating glass when i first heard bloc party, i was convinced they were a dance band. there is evidence of this suspicion all over the place on this album, & i'd go out on a limb & say this is due to matt's intense drumming style, but nowhere is this dance notion more evident than on she's hearing voices, which is actually my favourite track on the album. (chooooooooooon!) however, unless you're looking for it, bloc party disguise their influences by using them to create something new every time, laced together track by track with kele's desperate crying out vocals. they're artrock, post-rock, dance, shoe gazing, britpop ecletic brilliance, & somehow they've made it all work. not only that, they've made it appeal to practically everyone in the uk, ever*. as you go through the album, song by song, each one stands out as something exceptional in some way, from the up tempo groove-a-thons in the form of banquet & luno for example, to the delicate preciousness of slower tracks blue light, this modern love & awe aching single so here we are. themed with love, politics & cosmopolitana, silent alarm could provide a cross section to life as we know it for so many, and this makes the album special in a way a lot of albums or even bands at the moment aren't. my only discomfort with the album (aside from the exclusion of "little thoughts") is that it does slow down significantly towards the end, after starting so fast which leaves me feeling like after thirteen songs there's still something incomplete about the collection, though it wouldn't surprise me if this was somethign as pretentious as a deliberatly decaying lifespan. um, no. whether the album stands the test of time or not remains to be seen; it has moments that will always be way up there in the gods, but mainly i hope that bloc party continue to be exciting & different. * taken from ruth moog's book of speculation |
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rankdeluxe
four mentalists invade the small stage at the hope & anchor & declare themselves the rank deluxe. things are already hot & stuffy in the little room when the boys invite the audience to come hither, & those present tentatively begin edging forward, toward thamesmead?s most guilty of pleasures. proud of their south london heritage they are, & having enticed a number of participators from below the river things get swinging from the start, with offbeat guitar stabs, relentless drumming and a deal of shouting, to warm the cockles & the throat. at one point guitarist lewis decides he?d be better off sitting on the floor in the audience playing instead of strutting his stuff with the others on stage, but later, in contrast he decides he never really liked his guitar very much & proceeds to smash it into tiny pieces, which was seemingly fun, if worrying behaviour: some people don?t want splinters in their eyes, thanks. their high-energy songs & cocky line up suggest they have the power to be great. instantly catchy songs like the fanatic style & bouncing steal my soul make them easy to digest, yet their live show proves them to be quite er? unpredictable! the rank deluxe are on the cusp of something great & on the tips of all the right tongues. but more importantly they know how to enjoy themselves. & don?t you dare try & stop them? i mean it! or there'll be trouble.- ruth moog |
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death from above 1979 - you're a woman, i'm a machine [679 recordings]
your congenial host-of-bellyache, ruth of moog, was going to review this album, but she gave up and asked me to do it because every time she tried, she just ended up writing "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". it?s not hard to see why. every time i put you?re a woman... on, the walls turn candy pink and jesse and sebastien from death from above 1979 appear in the room. not the actual human ones you see when you see them play live, but the monochrome ones you see on their album cover and in their marketing. you know, the ones with little elephant trunks. yep. those ones. as if that wasn?t enough to freak you out on its own, then they push me on the floor, gag me, tie my wrists and ankles, and start doing this really weird kind of dance, nodding and shaking their heads and throwing unconvincing robot poses - they?ve got good rhythm though. last time, to avoid getting tied up, i tried removing anything remotely rope-like from the room before i hit "play", but they just used strands of their own black hair. it was thick and strong like wire. after a little bit of this idiot-dancing, they?ll take anything they can find in the room and start bashing it against one of the pink walls. they really go at it hard, and i always think whatever they?re using - the tv, a hammer, a copy of the complete works of jorge luis borges - is going to break, but they keep going and instead it's the wall that gives way. it's thrilling when that starts to happen because i know what happens next. as the wall starts to crumble, they start using their hands and feet and trunks, tearing and kicking and ripping the substance of the wall to make a huge gaping hole in it. when the hole gets big enough you can see that on the other side, it isn?t the garden or the kitchen or next door or whatever any more, it?s a great big black expanse of space with stars hanging in it. they keep going until the whole wall has gone and we?re faced with this awesome view of the cosmos. and we?re rushing through it, in the pink room, at a hundred thousand miles an hour, going left and right and up and down and around as the stars and their planets swoop towards us. trunk-jesse and trunk-sebastian stand facing the open wall, stood as if they?re on surfboards or skateboards or those hoverboards you see in back to the future 2 or the thing the green goblin uses in spiderman. and they?re crouching and moving with the turns we take through space, although it?s not clear if we?re really going where we are because they?re controlling it, or if they just like to pretend they are because it?s fun. and on the way we always come along these sexy alien women who are swimming in space, you know, like the cartoon women in the daft punk cartoon video, only sexier, and not cartoons, and they swim right into the room and start dancing to the music, while the trunk-death from above 1979ers surf the room into them like sonic the hedgehog picking up stars. it fills up with dancing women and i?m still left there gagged on the floor, watching. they pretty much ignore me. anyway it?s only 35 minutes long so it?s not the end of the world, but all those shenanigans sure do make it hard to review. that was brought to you by the clearly insane wes white - ruth moog |
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redjetson - new general catalogue [drowned in sound recordings]
01 divorce to listen to new general catalogue, it's hard to believe that it is a debut album. judging by the collection of song titles, essex six piece redjetson appear not to be the most optimistic of bands, but despite the apparent pessimism they've produced what is quite an amazing, challenging & intelligent album. their sound is well established through rhythm, punctuation & guitar work (that's three guitars, there), as well as involving string & brass arrangements, & the crystallite delicate tones of the glockenspiel. it is huge from the very beginning ebbs of divorce, to the intense finale of pieces go missing, & between these, an erray of understated ideas are easily followed up with vast, moving sound scapes. a number of the songs are quite morose, & there's definitely a sense of reflection presented in the album, however they're not all dark clouds & rain; songs like stay comfortable in their arrangement are a lot more hopeful sounding & inspiring, & as with this city moans is one of the examples where the writing is more led by melody than other tracks on the album. there is a great diversity in how the songs are carried through despite each song having a very natural rhythm... & a often clear fondness for 3|4. instrumental new europe's gentle trumpet is warm over a pretty acoustic guitar, but this only makes the arrival of following track a reptile, cold blood more chilling. although maybe with a band like redjetson, you'd expect them to sound contrived & pretentious, through their moments of grandeur & cleverness, they're songs are absolutely led by emotion & flow perfectly. the band leaves me absolutely passionate about their album: it is beautiful, imaginative & touching... & this is before i've even begun to scratch the surface. immense. back to top |
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duke raoul ep
01 aesthetics duke raoul?s ep opens in style with one of the more melodic songs of the five tracks. aesthetics clocks in at nearly 5 minutes, & opens as a skewering explosive beginning to a congregation of songs post-rock in style, yet without being so complex & removed they cannot be understood & enjoyed without having to re-listen over & over again. having said that, this is one of those cds where with each track you want to play it over & over and in doing so you discover something new each time; that guitar part just gets better, the bass becomes more & more involving, the percussive accents are increasingly thriving. the opening guitar riff of heaven sent had me reeling in seconds, when alex painter?s soft vocals join the arrangement and the song is carried though sections of sparkling guitars & warm windings set to vocals of passion & emotion. & once built up, slumber calms it right down with a dreamy delay on the guitar. on this track alex?s vocals come across so much more vulnerable than before, & become quietly replaced by feminine whispered french as the track retreats to it?s ending. the bass then takes us through dubby, an instrumental where the ideas laid out at the beginning are thrown up & neatly placed back together for what overall is a pretty & relaxing four minutes and twenty seconds, & brings us all too soon to the final track fade to nothing, vocally the most brash & diverse of the five tracks. duke raoul?s use of rhythm & timing i feel is one of their strongest features, as throughout their ep, the riffs & melodic sections throw off each other & wind up in the same place leaving your mind to wander in & out of the lines they lay down, but what i like most about them is their sophisticated & intelligent sound which balances perfectly with the passion & closeness you can hear in their music. duke raoul feel so good to listen to, that the disc just has to get played one more time... |
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kaiser chiefs - employment [b-unique]
01 everyday i love you less & less arhhhh, the pop is back! the Kaiser chiefs are here to shun the dodgy boy and girl bands of the last decade, & carefully waggle their fingers as they prepare to show us how it?s supposed to be done, in yorkshire at least. |
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camden crawl
oh the confusion a day in camden can bring. we're looking forward to the intense eight hours of live music ahead of us, from forty bands in eleven venues splurged up & down the streets of camden... so we're a little disappointed upon receiving the itinery, if not panicked, discovering all the bands are on at the same time. & that there are other people. & they're trying to see these bands in venues where er... they clearly wont all fit. we didn't think of that. a few moment of headscratching later, & we begin to "plan" our evening by process of elimination: "none of those bands are the departure except for that one". so while members of our company rush to the electric ballroom to catch the eighties matchbox b-line disaster's early start, we wander up to the dublin castle to miss art brut, clor, hot chip, do me bad things, agent blue, the infadels, the others, weapons of mass belief & cazals. so next, despite my pleas to go & see towers of london (this was before seeing that komakino were playing at fringe, a venue which had been belatedly added to the list) maximo park faught off the chalets & mystery jets amongst other bands that also exist for our attentions. we go to sainsbury's for easter eggs on the way to canaervan castle where the subways were about to take the stage. the canaervan castle is a stupid place to make a music venue. anyway, we join the queue & tilt our heads as ex-ikara colt front man paul resende walks by, & we fail to drop to our knees in despair crying "why?...why?!....WHY?!" though the temptation is great (thanks to the imagery proveded by the lovey cherb)... but the band begin their set before we step foot inside the venue - um, no!?! after asking the security to hold the door open for us so we can party in the street, he lets us enter the packed steaming venue to the sounds of the threesome's harsh rock'n'rollin'. the crowd is mental as expected more & more for this band, & though the equipment isn't quite working how it should be, a vigorously fun time is had by all. and following this, we wander around camden for a while, thinking about stuff, & half expecting to catch the end of le tigres' set even though it took us ages to get out of the castle following the subway's encore. back at the underworld we meet a rather worse for wear pair on the steps where secret machines have just finished their set, & though it's only gone 11.00pm & the party's meant to continue untill 3.00am, with only 4 venues still open & 3 very unattractive queues, we decide to be happy with what we got & call it a day. & what did we get? a cd, an experience, & a gold bracelet. well... wristband. |
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week of fun by cherb its seven o' clock on easter sunday. i've been out for five nights in a row. below follows what it is possible to do if you go out for five nights in a row. it doesn't include sitting in your house trying to recount the weeks events ...which is what i'm doing now. and my god, it's boring. so, tuesday ? not exactly the normal day to start off a week (ish) of madness ? was the day of the usually good artrocker club at the buffalo bar. but, erm, not so today. first up are noiseniks the dirty whose garage rock shambles completely fails to move their observers; there?s no spark, no creativity and no identity. even their waist-coated frontman realises this and resorts to clapping himself at the close of every song. bless. next up are thee exciters who, to be fair, are an improvement on the openers, but not good enough to convince my companion that she?d rather stay and listen to them than go home and sleep. and so i don?t actually get to see the hentchmen, the only decent band of the night. but mmm, early nights are nice. come the next day, disappointing support bands are no longer a worry, but i?d expect no less at a blood brothers gig obviously. bullet theory come on; no-one knows who they are. bullet theory go off; people run to the merch stall and slap themselves silly for not knowing this band previously ? definitely ones to watch. plus their bassist had a really nice guitar strap ? no lies. then are help! she can?t swim, a band whos badge i have sported on my bag and have been meaning to see live for a good few months. their sound fits snugly in between blood brothers and yeah yeah yeah?s ? it's dirty, noisy, loud and downright fun. even female vocalist leesey has jacked karen o?s barnet ...but then karen o can?t play keyboards and have screaming wars with her male counterpart tom (while he plays guitar and is skinny too ? in your face, zinner!) all at the same time now can she? following wednesday comes, well, thursday. but thursday kinda became friday somewhere along the line (midnight obviously), and just makes my mind fill up with a kind of magical musical blur if i think about it too much, which i soley blame on secret machines. despite their supports M83 being armed with epic electronic sounds and the ability to make the electric ballroom?s collective spine tingle, the secret machines' glorious set stole the show and made me go all warm and fuzzy inside, particularly the airing of chanting-in-harmony b-side-r immer weider and a magnificent first wave intact. the new stuff also sounded pretty spectacular, and gave me hope that the new album will win over those people that didn?t quite 'get' now here is nowhere. randomly there was pogo-ing and maniacal clapping from the crowd which, to be honest, was quite hilarious and even caused a smile to appear on the face of ?serious guitarist? ben curtis (who i?ve seen in a beanie hat, truth!). when i say night i actually mean morning of course ? finally get home at 7am friday morning after a rather sour incident involving a kettle, some descaler, tiredness and teabags, and get some sleep. but only two hours; and so overtiredness begins. overtiredness is one of the best and worst states to be in for a gig ? you can be chirpy one minute and feel like death the next, so friday was always going to be interesting. tonight was the longblondes, the homewreckers club and various other bands playing at the pleasure unit, but because i spent various points in the evening wanting to sleep, we left after the home wreckers club played. evening begun with no bands, and us playing "animal snap" in the corner, which was brill (okay, so i did win most of the games...). then here is lauren?s review of ?the other bands? ? "rosemary (rubbish), some band from york (also rubbish), another random band featuring a very fit but very weird paul banks alike (boring)" ? thank you lauren. 'another random band' were called cardboard radio, and what lauren neglected to review was this ? that their drummer played with wooden spoons (?!), and that they decided to have tempo changes for no reason at all and nick about a million white stripes-esque chords. then, of course the homewreckers club came on and made us happy, which they have a knack for really (by wearing some rather choice sunglasses for one ::ahem::). beginning with a tremendous is that alright? and soldiering on for a good half hour despite lindsay?s bass playing tricks and the pleasure unit suddenly getting decidedly warmer, their set even prompted us extremely tired children to dance and sing a bit ...of course, after that, we retreated outside and thought it would be in our best interests not to bother going back in. where thursday night was a big fun happy blur, saturday in its entirety was just a blur ? after spending the whole day leaning on walls and people in various pubs and ?taking it easy,? i was running on empty come 1am at frog as the cazals took to the stage. i can?t actually recall being amazed by them; i can?t remember the names of any songs; i can?t remember any songs that stood out to separate them from the huge bunch of up-and-coming bands out at this moment in time. all i can remember is that about ten people gave up watching them and retreated to the bar, which makes me think that despite having my judgement impaired by bleurooness, they really weren?t all that. i?m still willing to give them another chance, but perhaps at a time when i can?t get through a minute without yawning or checking my watch till home time. so, after all that, i deserve a break so i?m having the week off going out. honestly. the week after though ... once again, tea, a weekly travelcard and pound coins for cloakroom fees will be my bestest friends. and maybe i?ll even do a review ... don?t count on it though. |
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rank deluxe
01 style i don?t care! what a way to kick it off, style is four mintutes of jerky fun, & the obligatory introduction to the south east london four piece, who have taken thamesmead?s clockwork orange heritage & run away with it as if it?s their own; catch them if you can, the cheeky soundrels. if you don?t work yourself into a state of frenzy over the energetic bounces of style, put the cd down, and just walk. away. because this is all about callus apathy towards anything but ?avin? a laugh, gov! and if style didn?t do it for you, you?re quite clearly a lost cause. being influenced by punk ethos type ska, not unlike ian dury & the blockheads, rank deluxe separate themselves from other current ska influenced bands by being rough and rawkus, unlike the cleanliness of dead 60s, or the poppyness of hard-fi, or the ...blatantness of ludes... the technical term for what they got, may or may not be "RAH!" pleasure takes down the tempo before being lifted back up again by steal my soul, a song reflective of the scummy bits of the south east as if greasy hands were something to be proud of. final track the straight jacket plays with riddling bass & guitar stabs & concludes with a self righteous round of applause. it?s up to you if you join in or not, but if you?re gonna, you may as well get your hands dirty. we like these songs, oh yes we do. back to top |
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david fridlund - amaterasu [adrian recordings]
01 - amaterasu is the solo release of swedish artist david fridlund. the album itself flows beautifully, as it dances & waltzes track by track effortlessly, but not without dynamic, where david clearly knows how to transfer his thoughts both lyrically & musically. there is a sense of ease in the folky gatherings of tracks such as then i will miss you with it?s dainty yet resonating string arrangement, & this slight folk reference and ease is present throughout the album, until something you weren?t quite expecting jumps up to bite you on the bottom. amaterasu is an album to be enjoyed, meandering through as you intently observe the scenery, with purpose & completion. some songs stand out as uplifting & maybe slightly quirky, the instrumental knives being an example of this, as well as the second single taken from the album, white van, & busride & carsick, which has a fantastic jaunty outro. all of this in contrast to some of david?s song arrangements which are so simple & natural, evident in the first single released from this collection, april & may, one of the tracks where david?s vocals are joined by those of partner sara culler. the album is only a slight departure from david?s creations as david & the citizens - there are a lot of similarities, as would be expected, and the differences are possibly more subtle, but the result is none-the-less fruitful, & i think a good aid to pinpoint exactly where david is musically. this album has been one of my favourites for months, securing its spot by my cd player by being absolutely gobsmackingly amazing... i think it will be staying there for a long while to come. click here for david?s comments on the album when i spoke to him in november back to top |
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wokachika + finka + the hundred handed [hundredhanded.com] [finka.co.uk] [wokachika.co.uk] the hundred handed are first on stage tonight, & though the water rats theatre is not full to the brim, we are looking at an audience of quality rather than quantity. there is no excuse for not enjoying this band, for the hundred handed are certainly not lacking in quality themselves, being very enjoyable to behold & looking rather at home on stage, despite barely being able to fit on it. benjamin resentfully exclaims that he is missing doctor who to be there & it dawns upon everyone else that they?re missing it too. but all thoughts of billie piper & christopher eccleston?s adventures are left behind while the band of many hands continues to complete another wonderful set, brandishing their style of elegant indie that the likes of british sea power would be proud to witness. next on are the mancunion finka, & i wistfully recall vocalist jimmy frith?s hair being somewhat shorter some 2 years ago when i last saw them. this time they are still strong & smooth as a band, but watching them tonight, i am sure they can do better than this! their collection of songs is superb however, indie-pop with swooping rich vocals, and guitar drums & bass all adding their own touch of identity to the toe tapping result. my ears may have been deceiving me, but we believe that one of their songs was dedicated to anyone who?d been sat on, which had been met by stifled laughter from at least two people... becky-of-being-sat-on-by-a-drunk fame & myself were mentally bullied into staying for the whole of wokachika?s set. i did not enjoy them one bit, however there were other people there who were clearly not trying to escape, nor did someone elses mental (or physical) hold restrict them from making their actions toward the door. they were staying there of their own accord, perhaps even enjoying themselves. so maybe i?m wrong, & old guys doing herbal punk is actually really good. yeh, herbal punk. that?s what i said. i think the bands should have gone on in reverse? - ruth moog |
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the fever - red bedroom [kemado records]
01 cold blooded the first time i listened to this album right the way through, it seemed nice enough. okej, i didn?t get it. there?s all these sounds coming at you, & i?ll be damned if i can understand a word geremy jasper is choking up. but after closer inspection, the key is in the artwork. this album has a style & a concept, & each song is track after track from the weird world of the fever... it?s just a case of finding that portal - & luckily as you open the flaps encasing the cd, there it is. the lyrics! now not only can you understand what jasper has been shouting at you for the last forty five minutes, but the whole package makes sense. everything from the layout, the artwork & the sounds are tacked together with the mental meanderings of the bouffant haired one. opening track cold blooded starts with a menacing drum pattern, as sharp & cold guitars are pressed on top, and already the imagery begins to flow. it's impossible not to picture the bizarre almost burlesque-horror scenes painted throughout the album, ?lift the veil to kiss her sailor?s mouth, dry ice lips crack open & the smoke comes out? both vile & enticing & as if the whole mass of words is one huge brainstorm carefully laid out into a sequence that just about makes sense. |
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boy kill boy - suzie! [fierce panda]
01 suzie this song is super great. it's stylistically very 80s synth pop in the vein of a-ha [if you?re in doubt, this is a gooood thing], with a brilliantly catchy melody & ever the opportunity to sing along to the hooky lyrics. there?s a bit of a dark undertone to the song, the lyrics are a bit sad [either that or they?re about richard whitely & carol vorderman], but in true bittersweet style the song is so upbeat that i couldn?t review it without getting up to have a dance. |
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budrising festivals
a week of gigs sponsored by budweiser took place in may in venues over london, some of which established acts, like dizzee rascal & the charlatans, & less well known artists performing free gigs in the west end, camden & various venues around the city. 23rd may 05 26th may 05 28th may 05 a not at all concise review of some gigs grouped together by a weird beer festival thing. i have no idea why no more of those free gigs were attended (apart from the ones that clashed: boo hiss!) what can i say? we’ll do better next time. back to top |
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hot hot heat | the departure | the fever after a panic to get to the venue & a queue to get inside, i finally settled myself down for a moment in camden’s most ornate music venue, for what soundwise looks to be a perfect bill. i’m not settled for long though, as first band on are new york’s the fever, who have had a bit of a line up change since i last saw them at the grotty garage supporting death from above 1979. this evening, their number is diminished by one. the tight, sharp northampton fivesome get going with the unmistakable single be my enemy. the departure’s set is full of songs to get you bouncing about, and the excited crowd is happy to submit to the drum beat while david jones’ understated performance demands your attention, though with the fever & hot hot heat either side of them, they come across as slightly lacklustre in comparison. however, the incredible guitar solo in lump in my throat works a treat, and the set is rounded up by dirty words to make way for the headliners. enter hot hot heat, & a certain front man’s hair has grown. i’m talking curly. i’m talking afro. they launch straight into no, not now, followed by forthcoming single goodnight goodnight & keep up an energy throughout the whole length of their set, as though they’re attention deficit & every time they play a song it’s like the first of the night. after steve bays spends the evening sprawled over his keyboard, the final song of their set is bandages which is met by riotous applause & the whole of koko knows the words. they come back for an encore including island of the honest man from current album elevator, & they bring down the house. so there we have it, three awesome bands and a brilliant night; a pleasure to witness. back to top |