Just some visual proof that I haven’t spent all of last month failing my studies, develop emotional attachments to people that don’t exist and generally drink myself stupid; last month was the month of seeing bands and then seeing them again a short while afterwards, preferably in a different city that doesn’t house tramps that offer your drunken buddies bananas. Pissed Jeans, No Age, The Mae Shi with bands such as Mob Rules, Statues and The Shitty Limits in tow - it’s been a good month for standing in darkened rooms watching men writhe.
Pissed Jeans and Mob Rules at the Fenton, Leeds on the 16th.
Only went to Nastyfest at the Faversham (17th) for the latter half of the evening, just in time to catch everyone going crazy to No Age, The Mae Shi and (unpictured) others such as Japanther and Cadence Weapon; a tip to London crowds… the north is making you look like miserable tossers. Dancing is better than judging, you know.
The PJs at the Old Blue Last. Had to include the last one for shits and/or giggles. My, does my friend (right) look sweaty.
And finally, No Age at The Dome. Stage invasions ahoy, including that Japanese guy who you can see being taken off after he tried to take a monitor amp with him. Goodness. Their performances cemented the quality of their new LP and and whatever horrible metaphors the NME used when reviewing the thing (’Teen Creeps’ is “a brash, off-key blast of eardrum-searing Superchunk-style fuzz-pop”, apparently).
There were countless other support bands but if they’re not up there then they’re not worth your time - thereby suggesting that Mob Rules are worth your time. MOB RULES, you could say. Soft Skeleton has some exclusive tracks on their latest podcast, so head there for some fine fury. Nearly typed ‘furry’ there, which would have sent a different message entirely. They’re playing a gig in Brighton and a gig in High Wycombe and then you’re stuck till October.
Here’s to June and here’s hoping I actually post things instead of hoarding them and forgetting any critical elements therein.
Miscellaneous — roman david on June 6, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Saw this over at BoingBoing and you must surely know how much of a nerd a sucker for old technology noises, so enjoy. ‘Nude’ by Radiohead remixed using a ZX Spectrum, a scanner, an old printer and some knackered hard drives being used as some kind of speaker setup. Haunting 8-bit stuff:
Everyone has their favourite Sudbury, Ontario based power pop trio, I’m sure. But I bet yours isn’t as good as mine: Statues are on Deranged and were raised on whoops and three chords and the stylings of Vic Reeves. I blame this past week of beautiful weather that I was told only appears in London every other blue moon (which is better than some; I am still convinced that the sun ever shines on Manchester. Singling out Morrissey’s solo career as the reason for meteorological wrath) for my audio preferences leaning towards the happy hardcore way of life, but I would also adhere significant leverage to this record lifting the weather out of the doldrums too; ‘Same Bodies, Same Faces’ has many things and those things include sing-a-long-a-longssss and an ability to make GG Allin seem like a nice fella. Jesus Crikey.
Caught the sods playing the New Cross Inn with amongst others The Shitty Limits but I will be tacking them later and yeah… ‘Living In Lines’ and ‘Distance/Duration’ are anthems that if kids listened to them instead of mopey things they’d have a smile to go with that jarring choice of hair colour. Sample them below. One thing that erks me, however: Mr. Rob of Statues? You look like my dad if he spent his time listening to The Vibrators instead of Yes.
They’ve just done a European tour which you’ve missed because you are slow and if you’re Canadian then I’m sure they might play near you. But then again, Canada’s a really big country. Perhaps you should make do by buying records and the like: myspace dot com slash statues.
Reviews — roman david on January 30, 2008 at 2:15 pm
The Mae Shi are an example of why you should go to a show based on things you’ve heard from the room next to you. They’re from Los Angeles and sound like a birthday party where everything is going wrong, things are getting broken and your friends are sat in the corner wondering what to do with their lives, and you’re just watching all this happen and yet you’re too busy grinning ear to ear because you know this kind of carnage is WHAT THIS WORLD NEEDS.
After about five years and a load of records and members and Betamax synths have flown by whilst I busied myself with Razorlights and Carling Weekends before throwing such music at my siblings and fleeing to London, they’re now with Moshi Moshi (purveyors of kawaii glory from the likes of Architecture in Helsinki and Best Fwends) to present a new LP that I hope garners some delicious attention or at least a few more starry-eyed followers who know their way around WordPress. ‘HLLLYH’ indeed.
Seeing as my head has appeared to blend their three performances (at Barden’s Boudoir, the Old Blue Last and the Macbeth respectively) into a single singalong entity, I’m not in the best frame to write seperate reviews; instead I recommend you look at these pictures of the past few days, give them a listen and catch them before they hop back across to play The Smell (8th March, US types!) - your last port of call for now is at indie club juggernaut probably Push a week today (2nd Feb, details) playing alongside if-math-rock-was-twee Hot Club de Paris.
30/1 update: I don’t tend to follow bands around for more than three shows but I went to see t’Shi again at Upset! The Rhythm’s Gramaphone show on the 30th, where it was more of the delightful same, except in a cosy basement and in front of a satisfyingly kinetic audience. As it says above, you’ve got one more chance and if you’re the kind of person who turns his or her nose up at half an hour of glee every now and then you should shimmy on down. Over the past four shows there have been some excellent new bands who mostly fit under the pigeonhole of happy-go-lucky hardcore; synopses and songs tomorrow I reckon.
