PS I Love You @ The Lexington, 05/05/2011

There's a shamefully small crowd for PS I Love You at the Lexington, their first London gig. That day their gig had been listed as having tickets available, which for a new band isn't all that uncommon but their music is deserving of so much more. Before the gig Paul Saulnier wanders around the upstairs part of the Lexington and is either ignored or is unable to coax people out of their auras to say hello.

It was my first gig at the Lexington and I liked it, a great selection of beers and a nice cosy feel to it, it would have been good to see if with people flying off the walls as the distorted guitars of PILY so deserve.

The band walk onto stage unassumingly and rip into one song after the other creating an unholy racket. They talk little and let the music speak for them. There's something odd looking about the band, frontman Paul Saulnier is a large long haired bearded bespectacled force on his guitar which is plugged into an intriguing piece of hardware I later learn to be a Moog Taurus which allows him to play loops adding layers to his playing whilst live. Drummer Benjamin Nelson on the other hand is a slight skinny man who hits the drums with controlled rage.

The set takes in most of their debut album as well as a couple of new tracks. Its all done and dusted within 40 or so minutes and that's it. I can only imagine what might have been with better promotion, but at least I got an initial taste that will lead, I hope to a fair few more PS viewings.

Camden Crawl 30/04-01/05/2011

I haven’t been to the Crawl for a few years mainly due to apathy, this year’s line up included one of the first Odd Future UK shows which made it a little more appealing, that and a host of other bands said to be worth checking out.

A presenter I work with was curating the Barfly stage on the first day so I went down to check it out, I stayed there most of the day and was pleasantly surprised by some of the acts I caught. First up was Divorce, a female led noise punk band supported by members of Comanechi in the crowd, it was a blistering force of noise and screeching vocals. After a few songs my friend and I retired to the bar downstairs, not for us.

They were followed by the fierce but poppy sounding Turbogeist who had a mosh going for them, a messy one at that, with denim clad dudes slipping on the beer slick left behind by departed punters. Turbogeist are a great sounding punk band and I can only hope to hear more from them in the future.

I hung out in the bar for a while after before crossing the road to The Monarch to check out the completely excellent Gallops. Having chanced upon them on the Hype Machine many moons ago I was delighted to finally see them live and see that they are every bit as good live as on record. It was also a delight to hear more of them as I had, until then, only heard a couple of tracks. Playing with a sheer level of intensity the instrumental songs took in a multitude of layers and sounds and kleeps your beer addled brain clicking and popping around.’ There was a surreal level to it as they played in the front window and you could see walking past over the drummer’s shoulder. Check ‘em out.

We returned to the Barfly to see that evening’s headliner Ghostpoet. One of a host of highly tipped new acts Ghostpoet bring s laconic sounding rap over mellow dreamlike beats. An ingeniously entitled album “Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam” his songs capture the can’t be bothered charms of a young urban life and “Cash and Carry Me Home” is everything a booze filled night’s journey home should be.

After a late night journey home and a good sleep I was all set for day two. I met friends by the Elephant’s Head, a great pub for old rock music and a moody crowd. First stop had to be Odd Future, to the blind OFWGKTA are no one in particular but to those with an ear to the hype they are, apparently, the most exciting gang of rappers, producers and artists around. Put on the outdoor stage, perhaps expecting a large crowd, the masses gathered and chanted “WOLF GANG, WOLF, GANG”. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the air like something great was about to happen. Eventually a young looking girl walked on, plugged in a mini mixer and kicked in some beats, the whole crowd swayed and puished and pulled and moved like a freaked herd. Eventually Hodgy Beats walked out, slowly followed by Tyler, The Creator who walked on stage backwards with his mosh mask on. From then on the set was taken over by heavy bass lines, chanted lines, Hodgy and Tyler sitting on the speaker stacks before Hodgy eventually launched himself into the crowd. The band displayed a sense of menace and delivered with pure energy, a nasty looking mosh pit developed in the middle of the crowd. Enticed by the band fans tried to clamber on stage but couldn’t get past the burly security men. As Tyler and Hodgy left the stage the crowd rushed forward and clambered onto the stage in numbers security couldn’t handle and gave up on. Before long the stage was full of kids, jumping around and shouting “WOLG GANG” over the pleas of the stage manager and MC asking everyone to get off.

After that adrenaline rush the rest of the day paled in comparison but there were still some great performances.

Next up were the Computers who delivered a barnstorming set at the Camden Rock. The singer spent half his time wondering the crowd mic stand in one hand and guitar in the other. In only a small venue it was a pretty impressive feat, he even climbed the central pillar as the hundred odd people who had crammed inside looked on. Their album This Is The Computers has a menacing rock sound which they bring live and deliver with every ounce of energy.

From The Computers hard rock to the blissful sounds of Cloud Control over at Dingwalls. My first trip to the little venue surprised me, the tiered standing area affords great views but the low roof makes it feel very compact. Cloud Control are Australian but have decamped in the UK to promote their debut album released over a year ago back home. By this point the booze and sun had sunk in and their chilled and dreamy songs were a nice break to what had come before. It was nice to sit back and just let the sounds wash over you and take it in slowly.

We headed back to Camden Rock to see Maverick Sabre a hip hop folk singer like the Plan B of old. He’s allright but beer has made me sleepy so I go upstairs and lie back on a large couch and listen, it sounds decent but I wasn’t overly fussed.

We end the night heading south towards Koko to see Simian Mobile Disco. The place had quelled since what was reported as a riotous Lethal Bizzle gig earlier in the day with bodies flying around the ballroom. Simian Mobile Disco bring a huge light rig and stand in the middle of it, what follows is a set of strobes and colours and blips, beeps and beats. A tired and drunken Koko sways and dances, girls and guys pull shapes and faces, the last remaining parts of fancy dress outfits are passed around the crowd and people smile and gurn and cheer each other on over the finish line of two great days of live music featuring discoveries, old friends and new favourites.

Diplo @ Koko, 28/04/2011

Diplo arrives without all THAT much fanfare, all I recall is that he takes to the stage to the strains of Land  Of Hope And Glory. I wasn’t that drunk, more taken on a wave of euphoria.

My first week back drinking, a night out I had been looking forward to since it had been announced and my friends and I got tickets. We got there, post pub, the night had been switched from 11-6 to 9-4 so we didn’t stay in the pub until closing but did manage to layer up before hand. We catch Sinden’s set and stake our place on the dancefloor. He drops some good beats and gets us in the mood.

When the big man arrives, there’s no fireworks, it’s a change of laptop and we are on. I was wearing earplugs as Koko’s sound can be pretty crap and bass heavy but I ended up taking them out, it didn’t seem all that much louder that I could take.

We sway, we groove, we shake, we bounce as for a good hour and a half or so as Diplo takes us on a journey through many of the styles he was worked with over the last decade or so. A man of many stripes, skins, skills whatever Diplo’s career has taken in baile funk, dub, dubstep, hip hop, zef side.

He seamlessly passes from one to the other and mixes and fixes it all together so all you notice is the odd change of beat over the course of a few songs or the songs or remixes you recognise and get you to raise a hand further. The rest is one sweaty dance, and well, there’s nothing wrong with that, I can only imagine how good it would sound outdoors.

Glassjaw @ HMV Forum 30/03/2011

They say go hard or go home. Glassjaw opine for the former. when they go at all that is. a band with a sound like few others, Glassjaw have developed a cult and fervent following over the past decade or so since the release of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence in 2000, a following who have hung on for a third album since 2002's Worship and Tribute. Despite the Chinese Democracy timescale Glassjaw have kept fans waiting, releasing the odd vinyl or single. On the current tour US fans could pay a little extra for their ticket and receive a poster commemorating Glassjaw's gig in the town, tonight the UK fans each receive a copy of a new album.

The early birds got to catch Napalm Death tonight, I arrived just as they had finished, meeting friends there. There's a sign by the merch stand for all those looking for the CD "Free "Coloring Book" CD will be given out as you exit after the show. Yes, there is enough for everyone. No, I don't have any to give you now."

We make our way to the front, the lights dim and an unassuming four piece walk out. One of the things i have always liked about Glassjaw live is the lack of swagger, they often play in a line at the front of the stage, this time guitarist Justin Beck, bassist Manuel Carrero and drummer Durijah Lang play from the back of the stage while frontman Daryl Palumbo prowls around in front, screaming, wailing, singing and pouring his heart and voice out. Behind them a large green Cuban flag hangs down and a few lights brighten the stage.

They open with the crash bang wallop of You Think You're (John Fucking Lennon) one of those few songs released since Worship and Tribute. The crowd surge and sing back, a pit develops and smiles cross many faces. In the past numerous live dates have been cancelled due to Daryl's health its just  nice to have them here and tonight they play a storming set across their two albums and EPs.

The night continues through Tip Your Bartender and Mu Empire. there are particular sing a longs for Pink Roses, All Good Junkies Go To Heaven and Two Tabs of Mescaline.

A few songs in the grills behind the band light up and display the green Cuban flag, so far so nice, during the songs though they are equalisers changing colour with the decibels. they are images, they display messages at the end of the main set about picking up "Coloring Book" on your way out. The main set ends with a crowd pleasing, teeth gnashing Siberian Kiss.  Daryl who has thrown himself around the stages shimmies to Beck's intricate guitar during this initial finale, he enunciates his lyrics and mimes shooting a kiss in the shape of a bullet into the crowd.

Most bands with a sound anything like Glassjaw's would spend their time thrashing around stage as they play grinding riffs and sing about leading whores to water but not this band. Justin Beck stands in one place, he nods his head to the beat and swoops and sways Les Paul in hand. The same goes for Carrero, he nods and bops to the bass riffs which come up and around Beck's riffs. If Glassjaw are different to most bands on the hardcore scene it may be down to their intricate sound, listen closely to the bass lines or riffs and a picture emerges of a great band.

After a brief break the band return for their encore. Daryl tells the crowd he wants to play a few new songs they like before the band proceed to play their new Coloring Book EP in its entirety. It's an odd choice, it was good to hear the new songs, Gold somewhat lacked the energy of its recorded self while others sounded overly long and dipped into shoegaze or jazz fusion. The majority of the crowd, whipped into a fervour by the incendiary Siberian Kiss stood stock still bemused, if it wasn't for the free CD some may have left. One of my friends leant over and told me if he didn't know the band and they were playing these songs he'd leave, i had to agree. Listening to the CD later the songs weren't all that bad but felt like a damp squib after the excitement and hype of the previous hour or so. It was a shame the gig ended on a low, had the songs been interspersed into the main set no one would have complained but the crowd wanted a little more.

The band refer to Coloring Book as an album, but at 6 tracks its more of an EP, a bridge until a new album proper perhaps, but with Glassjaw its impossible to tell.

James Vincent McMorrow @ the ICA, 02/03/2011

I had to pull some strings, hell any strings I could find to get into this one, by the time I had clicked that I wanted to see this dreamboat voice it was sold out. The album's only just out though had been out for a year in Ireland. I had first heard "If I Had A Boat" on the MAP compilation and was hooked.

Strings pulled, tickets acquired, I hadn't been to the ICA in an age, it was nice to be back too. My friend and I checked out the support act, Rob Bravery but weren't taken by his twee ways and alighted to the bar for a couple of pints and a catch-up.

Back in the main room, I was pleased to see a full band set up, in a recent radio interview he had said he'd be playing alone. He wanders on stage and looks out above the crowd and is straight into it. He soon segues into "From The Woods" a lovely stirring rising song with a big ending which keeps going and is slightly different from the album version.

He thanks the crowd for coming along, he is humbled selling out a good sized venue, "Its cos you're incredible someone" someone shouts back. Im not all big on sycophancy, maybe its the Englishness, i'm not sure, he is great, his velvet voice projects beautifully across the room and the lo-fi backing of his band add a perfect sonic scene to accompany it.

Amongst the "Irish Bon Iver" tags James Vincent McMorrow is a young man with great songs who is surely set to garner further plaudits and his album shows why. He continues with "This Old Dark Machine" and "If I Had A Boat". Amongst the set he finds time to cover Sun Kill Moon's "Like The River" part of his solo interlude is interrupted by the clang of a can kicked over backstage by one of the band members. It provides a giggle,.

The gig isn't all serious, the audience are quite coupley and lovey, I'm in no mood for schmaltz but the songs are smooth and joyous and there's nothing wrong with that.

Les Savy Fav @ Heaven, 22/02/2011

Some bands just do it live and Les Savy Fav are a case in point. My friend Dave is a huge fan and he had mentioned them so I went to see them in October last year at the Electric Ballroom. That night frontman Tim Harrington spent half his time in the audience, singing, kissing, sweating and just generally making his way through the audience. I didn’t necessarily need to see them again but I am glad I did.

I bought my ticket partly to see one of the support acts, Pulled Apart By Horses. The Leeds metallers have been making a noise in more ways that one. A fast lively noise band in their own right, their grunge metal sound though nothing new is pretty fresh coming out of the folk dominating the alternative scene. Live they pull no punches, frontman Tom Hudson gurns and sneers. He poses at the front of the stage, one foot on the monitor. Guitarist James Brown has two moves, one is to pluck the strings above his chord hand to produce a ringing sound, the other can’t be good for his joints; numerous times he jumps and lands on his knees. I can only imagine his knees have gotten used to the beating but a band known for incurring personal injury during their sets a banged knee means little.
We had missed Young Legionnaire, I hear they were pretty good but PABH put up a show, particularly when Hudson downs his beer and decides to go walk about in the crowd. He drinks someone’s beer and ends up on someone’s shoulders being spun around in circles. He finishes the song back on stage, wanders to the side and proceeds to vomit profusely. Not to be deterred he wipes his mouth on a towel a grabs his guitar to finish the set. Live Pulled Apart By Horses are a whirlwind of energy and grit and, like the headliners, well worth a look.

Les Savy Fav are known as a live band, listen to the albums and enjoy rocky punky songs with quite a wide variety of sounds. See them live and the band is something else, guitarists Seth Jabour and Andrew Reuland, bassist Syd Butler and drummer Harrison Haynes play the songs, they are all great musicians who just get on with the job at hand but it’s frontman Tim Harrington who steals the attention. He comes on stage with a hat and a gilet over a sweater and a number of other layers. The clothes soon come off and this bearded goliath of a man sings topless. He unfurls rolls of wrapping paper, wanders through the packed audience. Kicks a couple of guys off a table and takes their place before getting members of the audience to push him across the room on the table, singing as he goes. He climbs the balcony then gets others to hold his legs so he can hang off it before being helped down. He kisses people, hugs them sings with others. Your eyes are split between the stage where four musicians are left to it playing the songs which all sound great, and a singer with a guise as a performing artist who makes the show a show, a spectacle, something worth seeing that you’ll tell your friends about and come back to see again.

Later on a roadie appears with boxes of glow sticks, after pouring one over one of the guitarists, the other boxes are thrown into the crowd, under the UV lights of this gay club the air is soon awash with flying colours, people pick them up and throw them back before, in unison the audience then turns its attention on the stage and a hail of neon colours soon rain down on the band, some of whom take cover behind their instruments. The sheer joy of the glow sticks leaves me smiling for ages, I feel like a kid again picking them up and lobbing them around. By this point Tim has changed and is wearing furry white trousers to which he hooks glow sticks, he also tries to bite the top off one, presumable to spray or pour its content around but he can’t get it off.

Patty Lee, The Sweat Descends, Appetites and I Want You all get played but for a LSF gig its not about the songs, its about performance.
Go see them, it’ll make you happy.

Xposure Live @ The Barfly, 21/02/2011

John Kennedy has staked his claim for a number of years now as the man for new music shows on the radio. His X-posure Live gigs have helped bring his show to a wider audience and show case some very special bands. Tonight three such acts take the stage at Camden’s Barfly with music Paris Suit Yourself, Cloud Nothings and Crocodiles.

Paris Suit Yourself are the first up, they play some wigged out proto punk rock sounds. The drummer grabs my attention, he is evil. He gurns, sneers and glares beneath the spot light the tattoo on his neck and those on his shoulders along with his hair in a sort of top knot giving him the look of a deranged warrior sitting topless on his drum stool. He smacks and slams the skins and cymbals and the throb of his kick drums helps displace the pin holding his hair in place. He can only be the descendent of an execution drummer who took his place on the gallows to beat out the death of the accused.
The guitarist is a picture himself, dressed like a hunter who’s walked off the steppe onto the stage, his leather jacket and fur hat don’t look in tune with his Gibson. He eventually removes his furs and looks like a young Jimmy Page with his short curls and flair.
The bassist, a girl, reminds me of Maggie Simpson, playing with the insouciance and guilt that gets the yellow girl thrown out of her music class. The singer is also a picture, a black guy with dreads, he has a slight look of Jean-Michel Basquiat. He takes to the stage in what looks like a suit before peeling of the layers to reveal a vest and adidas track suit trousers. He yells, screams, sings and vogues around the stage. It doesn’t always work but there’s something of interest about PSY. They are a French band from Bordeaux though now reside in Berlin. I want to listen some more, I think I like them in small doses and for what they are trying to do. Look them up.

Cloud Nothings are next, a young band from Baltimore. I say band, its mainly about frontman Dylan Baldi, his back up band are nothing to be sneered at though. Cloud Nothings are good but they are essentially a pop-punk band who remind me of days listening to New Found Glory singing and thinking of girlfriends I’d never even had and how I wondered how they go through so many. He is sweet if a little twee telling us of how his girlfriend has opened a jar of apple sauce all by herself for the first time. She’s 19 I think. Well done her.

If Paris Suit Yourself and Cloud Nothings were a clash of styles, then Crocodiles, I suppose, are somewhere in between. On an album they are slow and gloomy, rocking away like a turgid cold. I like them, their cover of Groove Is In The Heart is a case in point, fuzzy guitars and a cymbal led beat intertwine with an organ. It’s no Deee-lite but a delight in itself. They play a headline set, by which I mean they drag the audience from wherever they were and take us with them, I don’t know them well enough to pretend they played all the hits, the songs have a lot more energy about them and you get more of a feel then on the album when you might just be sat somewhere listening to an ipod. Live there is a buzz and beat and a feel. They play their songs a go in for little chit chat apart from a few thank yous, then, its over, they walk off. Having started a little late and being due to make tracks to their next date there is no encore.