Not the next big thing...

2005-10-06T14:21:00.000Z

HOODIE by LADY SOVEREIGN.

London grime star Lady Sovereign’s Basement Jaxx produced single aint about robbing shops at Bluewater. It’s about stopping your brethren sporting terrible clothes (“Black shoes, white socks – No-o-oh! / Polka dots – No-o-oh!”) and - most importantly - having fun. Hoodie is witty, charming, and could mark the beginning of a more mainstream success for The S-O-V. If you’re not dancing by the end of this record then I don’t want to be your friend.

GALANG by M.I.A.

Galang has been released before so if you’re vaguely cool you’ve heard it and know that it’s frickin ace. The lyrics are a maze of words that vary between what may or may not be nonsense repeatedly chanted and cutting social commentary. The beats are ace and raw. Part dancehall, part hip hop but mostly unlike anything you’ve heard before. And it all comes from a stunning girl who grew up in Sri Lankan village.

CULTURE FOR PIGEON by TRACY + THE PLASTICS

Lesbian feminist artist? Check. Electronic music? Check. Pretentious liner notes and press information sheet? Check. Three members, two of which aren’t “real”? Check. Performances which challenge visual norms? Check. Comparisons to Devo, Numbers and Bikini Kill? Check.

This sounds like it could be my favourite record ever.

Before I could find out whether or not it was my favourite record ever I was met with one compact disc which had TWO SIDES when I opened the case. One side was a DVD, one side a CD. Honestly, the things they can do nowadays amaze me. Maybe this will be my favourite record ever. Unfortunately I don’t have a DVD player and so perhaps I’m missing out the apparently crucial visual aspects of Tracey + The Plastics’ performance. Heck, this is the MUSIC section and not some fangled visual arts section so what do you care about the DVD, right?

The music. Oh, the music. It’s sparse without being the kind of sparse that is boring and too challenging. At times (like in the song Henrietta) it’s like what would happen if Le Tigre took themselves seriously and were suffering from depression. Other times it’s early PJ Harvey with keyboards instead of guitars (like in the song Oh Birds). At all times it’s inventive and fabulously put together.

You can’t fail to like this record if you are into the same things as me. And if you’re not? If all this sounds a bit weird? Then why not take a risk and do something different? This record could act as a nice, safe introduction to even stranger, better things.

Articles written for LSESU's newspaper The Beaver.

2005-09-16T09:03:00.000Z

The Music Man [my favourite deity] must know of my imminent return to London because he's arranged a tonne of ACE gigs!

Here's a brief list.

WED 28TH SEPT :: Not Clickable @ The Legion, 348 Old Street with Leafcutter John, Hands On Heads, DJ Scotch Egg, and Bovaflux.

OR

WED 28TH SEPT :: The Research @ Bar Academy, Islington [where the duck is this?]

MONDAY 3RD OCT :: WRECK @ The Marquee with Hey Colossus and other bands and DJs and stuff.

THURS 6TH OCT :: Dirty 3 @ The Barfly

FRI 7TH OCT :: Bearsuit @ Buffalo Bar

TUES 11TH OCT :: Go Native! @ The Quad, LSE with Help She Can't Swim, Hands On Heads, Vic Godard and Subway Sect and someone else I've forgotten.

WED 12TH OCT :: Deerhoof @ The Garage

WED 26TH OCT :: Electrelane @ ULU

MON 31 OCT :: Bearsuit @ 93ft East

OR

MON 31 OCT :: Lady Sovereign @ The ICA

TUES 1 NOV :: The Organ @ Water Rats

TUES 15 NOV :: Jeff Lewis @ Water Rats

*There's also a couple of Go Native!'s TBA soon - one is a GRINDCORE ROCK UND ROLL FEST featuring the likes of Hey Colossus and Phil Collins 3, and the other is a lovely bouncy indie punk night with the likes of Bearsuit and the Retro Spankies. BET YOU CAN'T WAIT.*

*EDIT* We should also probably go to everything Upset The Rhythm are putting on. Kevin Blechdom! Jandek! Afriampo!

ARTROCKER WITH THE ROCKS, DADA SWING AND DIE DIE DIE

2005-06-14T23:24:00.000Z

I fucking love Dada Swing. They are from Rome. They have toured with Erase Errata. They have a song on a Kill Rock Stars compilation. They are playing Ladyfest Olympia soon. These are but signs of their greatness.

They play crazy, crazy noise pop. The drummer is my absolute all time hero [hyperbole? what's that?]. She plays with her long, straight hair in her face and pulls the cutest grimaces and basically just freaks out. The main frontlady played the best little riff [if I can call it that? it was a mixture of beats and random synth noises...] on a cheap keyboard that I have ever heard. All of them are completely unassuming and I want to be their friends. I couldn't stop grinning. We spoke to them afterwards and they were genuinely really nice. They want to play Brighton some day and love Comet Gain. Ha.

They were SO welcome after witnessing The Rocks play their average poseury garage rock or whatever it was. I can't stand egocentric frontmen and women [although Karen O seems to get away with it] and the guy from the rocks annoyed me greatly. He kept pointing in people's faces and going up to people in a "I'm a crazy rockstar! Look at me!" way...

The last band on, New Zealand's Die Die Die, weren't much better. Whiney emo vocals on top of straight forward, straight ahead nu-hardcore. They should have been touring with Funeral For A Friend or something. The frontman did the whole "I'm a crazy rockstar! Look at me!" thing too as he pushed his way through the crowd whining about something.

Sometimes I love Artrocker because every now and then you have an amazing eclectic night like this that isn't too busy and it makes up for all those shit times you got stuck outside queuing in the cold.

OXES AT THE QUAD, LSE

2005-06-10T10:49:00.000Z

Oxes were absolutelyincredible as ever. Most of their appeal is in the gimmick of having cordless guitars. They wander everywhere in venues and all three of them are hardly ever together on the stage at any one time. At one point one of the guitarists put his guitar in a bin and strolled back to the stage and simply picked up another guitar and carried on playing.

Despite the gimmicks they make amazing instrumental, post-hardcore tinged with heavyheavy metal and incorporated dramatic silences. During the silences they scratch their backs, generally look nonchalant and lacking concentration until they kick back into the song all together with perfect timing.

The gig itself was poorly organised with less than enough people present and things running very late. This meant that Oxes didn't come on til 10.35pm when the curfew was meant to be 11pm. Oops. Their set finished after 11pm and by this time security and venue people were getting very antsy. But instead of packing up Oxes decided to put on a play.

Everyone was told to form a semi-circle and the theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey was played by two members of the band. Later the third member appeared butt naked and acted out the monkey bit from the film on the floor. I couldn't really see, but everyone else was laughing. Security sure were pissed off.

"SEX IS A WEAPON" BY (RETARDS)

2005-06-08T17:15:00.000Z

This review has been a long time in the making. I’ve had too long to think about it and it’s got the point where I am unable to say anything right. I have to write something and I want to scream with wild, carefree abandon and see what ends up on the page but that’ll never happen. So, do excuse me whilst I muse about (retards) in a way which does not do them justice…(!!!)

(retards) are, in their own words:

"Frank Osterflood: Feedback from stringed instruments, tin whistle, melodica, xylophone and some shouting.

Marshall Applewhite: Shouting, playing with oscillators and Dr. Robotnik’s rhythm machine.

John Wayne: Banging things with sticks."

(retards) are like all of your current favourite bands from the West coast of the USA in that they are hardcore and post-punk influenced (I guess), electronic, shouty, haunting, and smart. (retards) are not from the USA though, they are from Dublin. Dublin is in Ireland.

Their songs contain expletives and rude tales which will always float my boat since I am amused by the mere mention of breasts, let alone stories about feeling disgraced because of shagging 12 year olds by accident (in U-16 Whores).

Different ideas (centred around sex as a broad theme) are explored in the lyrics, from dancing (in Who’s Laughing Now (You’re Crippled)) to rape (He Put Something In My Drink) and weirdo masochism (Chinese Girl In My Truck), but the music itself makes everything seem brutal, unforgiving and unsatisfying.

To play these repetitive little riffs (whether synthesised, played through a whistle or xylophone, or with “stringed instruments”) would be like gritting your teeth and scratching an itch that just won’t go away. Pretentious journalism aside, there is something just so wonderfully frustrating about listening to this album. I like the sound of it, but the sound is alien and the vocals frightening.

Considering all this, imagine my shock and horror at learning that they wear funny costumes on stage. I’d probably shit myself.

Highlights:

1. I got excited when in Michael Caine the words (yes you guessed it) “Michael Caine” are screamed over and over until “The meek shall inherit the earth! Six Foot by Four!” is screamed in a call and response post-DC style.

2. An exception to the rule of torturing, haunting sounds is the marvellous instrumental trackette, (retards) Abroad, which sounds like it’s played on a kids piano and xylophone and is only barely touched with distortion and scariness.

3. Their cover of And Then He Kissed Me which was originally by The Crystals (?) sung by a distorted male voice is perfect and, yet again, haunting, with an acoustic guitar (scratchily strummed) providing the backing until it melts down and collapses at the end.

The excessive use of brackets in this piece was not intended to be a joke.

A SHORT GIG GUIDE

2005-05-31T10:05:00.000Z

31 May :: Catch, Shoreditch :: The Diskettes + Francois + MJ Hibbett + The Bobby McGees + Winston Echo

06 June :: Underworld, Camden :: These Arms Are Snakes + Bullet Union

08 June/09 June :: The Forum, Kentish Town :: Dinosaur Jr

09 June :: The Quad, LSE, Houghton Street :: Oxes

12 June [ALL DAYER] :: Pleasure Unit, Bethnal Green :: Homobop featuring The Diskettes + Wet Dog + Stationary + Smartypants + Dragula (tbc)

16 June :: Barden's Boudoir, Dalston :: Mirah + I Know I Have No Collar + Truly Kaput + Francois

Coming soon...

2005-04-15T13:27:00.000Z

... Reviews of Akira's latest EP and and an album by (retards). Probably at the end of May when my exams are over.

"THE EVENS" BY THE EVENS

2005-03-26T21:24:00.000Z

Whilst listening to The Evens debut album The Evens I had a massive epiphany. An epiphany which will, no doubt, change my perception of everything Ian Mackaye has ever recorded. The epiphany is as follows: Ian Mackaye sounds like Homer Simpson. If Homer Simpson were to sing sparse post-hardcore ditties with Polly Harvey sound-a-like Amy Farina [ex – Warmers] then you would have The Evens [for a most explicitly Homer-esque sound listen to You Won’t Feel A Thing].

Now I’ve successfully ruined Mackaye’s genius for myself and everybody else I think I should attempt something redemptive. The Evens isn’t hard to save; it’s a fantastic continuation of Mackaye’s musical output. It’s been four [long] years since Fugazi’s last album, The Argument [gosh, that makes me feel old], and whilst The Evens definitely sounds very similar to this in many ways, it is the things that make it distinct and unique from previous Mackaye efforts that are truly spectacular.

The Evens are stripped down, laidback, and tender but with definite driving polemic voiced through beautiful harmonies. In Mt. Pleasant Isn’t “the police will not be excused, the police will not behave. All too much is lost in anger and never enough is saved”. In the first single On The Face Of It “there is nothing to confront, just hypocrisy and inconsistency, while we pretend that we are alone with our standards bared and no profits shared, we should count our days numbered”.

The male and female harmonies, as well as the songs where Farina takes the lead [If It’s Water and Minding Ones Business most notably] are what really turn things up a notch. It would be criminal just to discuss this record in terms of Mackaye [I admit I am perhaps guilty of this crime already] as Farina doesn’t only contribute fabulous vocals, but also some excellent – and perfectly apt – drumming which adds depth to a set-up [besides the drums there is just baritone guitar and vocals] which could [at least potentially] be limited in sonic capability.

The main thing which marks The Evens out from former Mackaye projects is that the songs are, simply, very accessible and catchy as a cold bug on The Tube. Fugazi only appealed to a special bunch of people with a love for hardcore generally, and even their later material, which should have been appreciated by indie fans and hardcore fans alike, was never really given the credit it deserved. The Evens hold a broader appeal and allow a new arena to open up for Mackaye.

At the grand age of 43 Mackaye’s occasional roar of a voice and the ability of his music to spur teenage boys to fight is gone [at least temporarily]. Now is a time for beautiful melodies and harmonies, baritone guitar, understated drumming, and – of course – continuing to question and fight the powers that be. And Lord, let us forget that Mackaye sounds like Homer Simpson.

A few gigs I am looking forward to [some of which I probably won't attend due to monetary restrictions]:

2005-03-25T19:21:00.000Z

29th March :: INFINITY :: TODD + BIRDS OF PARADISE + COLLAPSE

12th April :: ISLINGTON ACADEMY :: PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES

14th April :: THE SPITZ :: SOLEDAD BROTHERS + DOOLEY WILSON + MR DAVID VINER + THE SURGENS

25th April :: ICA :: SLEATER KINNEY

26th April :: INFINITY :: THE PLOT TO BLOW UP THE EIFFEL TOWER + BULLET UNION

26th April :: THE SPITZ :: GANG GANG DANCE + WHITE MAGIC + AUM SAHIB

30th April :: THE SPITZ :: IMMORTAL LEE COUNTY KILLERS + CLAMBAKE + HIGH PLAINS DRIFTERS

5th May :: THE QUAD, LSE :: THE PIPETTES + CHARLOTTEFIELD + LA MOMO + WET DOG

6th May :: THE UNDERWORLD :: FUCKING CHAMPS + THE PLOT TO BLOW UP THE EIFFEL TOWER

"EXITS" BY THE BOXER REBELLION

2005-03-25T19:08:00.000Z

Self diagnosed “alt.rock” foursome The Boxer Rebellion are most often compared to The Verve, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Cooper Temple Clause. That’s because they really do sound like all of these bands. I had them down as a post-hardcore band on the strength of their name, but I wound up with a load of old drivel, derivative of three bands that I really dislike. The long line of shambly-limbed cod-epic British rock trundles on, ladies and gentlemen.

In “The New Heavy” (track 5, track number fans) the singer manages to make the line, “If you want me, come and get me” sound like a whinge from a dullard rather than a statement imbued with exciting sexual potential from a young man in a band. This is mostly representative of the entire album; something which could be exciting always turns out to be exactly the opposite.

They do try to rock, but when they do it sounds like a badly produced Muse with more multi-tracking. When they’re being quieter and sweeter it’s not so easy to hate them because, well, they have a sweeping melodies, a piano, and they sound heartbroken for Gods sake! You’ve at least got to have pity for them.

I read somewhere that they were a band for “MEN” (capital letters theirs, not mine). Ha! Some men weeping?! Men don’t weep, they fight with their muscles! And then they win over women after effectively seducing them with the line, “If you want me, come and get me”.

[Published in The Beaver]