>>Nostalgia For Infinity

Time for another upcoming gig round-up for Britain’s drugs death capital!

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See here for the reason why I post these lists.

It seems that the Freebutt is no longer owned and run by the Joiners, and is now under the command of a local consortium of four blokes who have the good taste in music (I met one of them on Friday; he was wearing a Holy Roar t-shirt and played the Murder City Devils and This Will Destroy You among many other fine bands). Since independently owned and run venues are rare and getting rarer in today’s Brighton, I hope you’ll join me in supporting the ‘butt and the Penthouse bar when you can.

Aug 16th – World Inferno Friendship Society – Engine Room, £8.50

Aug 16th – Spraynard, Bangers, Break The Habit, Big City Plan – Hector’s House, £free

Aug 18th – Wooden Shjips, You’re Smiling Now But Soon We’ll All Turn Into Demons, Soul Punch – Freebutt, £7.50

Aug 18th – Voodoo Glow Skulls (yes, again!) – Engine Room, £?

Aug 21st – Dinosaur Jr – Concorde2, £17.50

Aug 27th – Subhumans – Engine Room, £8.50

Aug 29th – Fake Problems, Riverboat Gamblers – Freebutt, £7.50

Sept 3rd – Paint It Black – Freebutt, £8.50

Sept 17th – Kayo Dot, Manatees, Blackstorm – Freebutt, £7

Sept 25th – Citizen Fish – Engine Ro0ms, £8.50

Sept 27th – Fuck Buttons – Audio, £8.50

Oct 4th – Obits (ex-Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu) – Freebutt, £?

Oct 9th – Johnny Foreigner – Audio, £7.50

Oct 10th – The Slits – Concorde2, £13

Oct 18th – This Will Destroy You, And So I Watch You From Afar – Audio, £?

Oct 19th – Dalek – Audio, £9.50

Oct 28th – Dananananaykroyd – Audio, £8.50

Dec 14th – Dillinger 4 – Engine Room, £8.50

A couple of friends accused me of never telling them about gigs I’m planning to go to, which I was initially outraged about but… actually, it’s probably pretty true. Just through absent-mindedness rather than malice or a desire to enjoy social events on my own. Foolish. So, I promised to put a list of gigs up online somewhere, and this seems like a semi-logical place to do it. So here are some Brighton shows I would like to go to. I won’t make it to all of them, and no doubt a few shows will spring up at short notice and surprise me with their existence, but this is a start.

If no supports are listed, or the price is £?, that means I don’t have the details, couldn’t remember them, or was otherwise too lazy to go and find out. Sue me.

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DEFIANCE, OHIO
+ Madeline + Jakal + Kelly Kemp

Cowley Club, Brighton, 28th May 2009

It’s a while since I’ve been down to the Cowley Club – not since last time I tried to see Defiance, Ohio, in fact, on which occasion Brighton’s only radical social club was so packed they’d instituted a one-in one-out policy. This time around I persuaded everyone to arrive early, a plan which worked well enough that we polished off several bottles of delicious organic cider before the night’s music kicked off.

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Potted reviews because I cannae be bothered to dredge my appalling memory for specific details.

Death Cabaret, Whitemare, Pride Can Kill @ Prince Albert (April 2nd) – really can’t remember too many details now, but Death Cabaret are tight as usual, playing something halfway between melodic hardcore and death metal – with a shitload of pop-punk woahs thrown in for good measure. Their new song kicks ass. Whitemare and Pride Can Kill are bigger and louder and angrier. Particularly the latter’s frontman, who seems pissed that no one is moshing, so he shoves folks around and pisses them off too. So by the end of the set everyone is grumbling a bit. But, let’s be fair, when did hardcore get so polite and pacifistic? Is it just that people aren’t so angry any more?

Bastard Squad, C.U.N.T., Offcuts, Guardians of Love & Honour @ Walmer pub (April 3rd) – B.S. are down from Cambridge and play unexceptional but entertaining cynical 80s UK punk rock. C.U.N.T. kick everyone’s asses. It’s their last show and after a dozen blasts of frenetic riffing and the most intense fem vox you’ve heard this side of Rolo Tomassi, everyone is asking ‘why?’ Offcuts fucking rule as usual. Drunk and sloppy as all hell but who cares? No one here is sober. The Guardians run on stage to play two songs but by this point I’m vomiting in the gutter outside. Classy as always.

Crazy Arm, Random Hand, Propagandhi @ Concorde 2 (April 20th) – Crazy Arm are quality as always, playing some kind of weird blend of hybrid country/folk rhythms and melodic hard rock. Last time we saw them the singer had a broken leg. Glad to see him standing up this time. Random Hand are just weird. In an awesome way. At first they seem like they’re channelling CapDown, and then they kick into rap-metal mode with cheesy sirens that wouldn’t be out of place in an old Corporate Avenger song. Really mixed, really fun. Propagandhi rule everyone’s faces. Is there any doubt they would? There are not many bands this good, and this righteous. It also sounds like the Brighton show went a lot better than other parts of the tour.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (April 25th) – I was here on my own and was terribly hungover, which seems appropriate if a bit sad. My favourite song isn’t played (Roberta C) unless I got here too late for it (I think I missed a couple of numbers). But there is a good mix of material old and new, and some songs involve a full band, and Owen even tells a joke. Q: Why did the chicken go to the Doors gig? A: To get To The Other Side. Commence groaning. This joke was the only bit the middle-aged bald fuckers stood behind me seemed to enjoy. Honestly, if you’re only going to vocally criticise the band you’re watching… why not fuck off outside and stop pissing everyone else off.

I’ve been forgetting to update my list of shows attended. Given that I do enjoy a pint or two at shows and that I have a terrible memory to start with, this is very annoying. I often struggle to remember exactly what I did the previous week, let alone going back several months. Sigh.

Gig review: Dananananaykroyd, Calories @ Engine Room, March ’09

Last night I fought back against the lethargic temptations of being lame and boring and staying in and got myself down to Brighton’s Engine Rooms (key characteristics: underground, smells, broken toilets, sweatbox, flooded this one time, cute barstaff) to see Dananananaykroyd and Calories. Pope Joan and Me My Head also played but I got there too late for them, which was kind of a bummer as I’ve been wanting to see Pope Joan for a while now, and given the rest of the line-up it seemed probable that Me My Head would be decent as well.

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Another gig review within days of the last? Just what the hell is going on here? Does it make up for my total failure to post flash fiction for the past fortnight? Read on for the answers to precisely none of these questions.

It’s OIB Records’ second birthday – hurray! To celebrate the occasion they’ve invited Brooklyn’s Parts & Labor down to play for us – hurrah! And it’s £7 – um, hurrah? Okay, it’s a bit costly for those of us raised on super-cheap punk shows, but this is the world of indie pop and to blend in we must learn their ways.

First up tonight is Brighton’s own lonely ghosts. After having watched their set I’m unsure whether I think they exemplify competent mediocrity, or if they’re just another one of those points I keep on missing. They’re good at what they do, and their songs are pleasantly put together and played, but it’s only when they play ‘Happy Lovers Friends Forever’ that I find myself getting drawn in. In fairness this is not my thing, and I should just be happy that there’s one song catchy enough to entertain me, but then I don’t seem to be the only disinterested party present.

(This is a now-unveiled reference to the folks stood in front of me who, it transpired, weren’t too down with the concept of shutting the fuck up and listening to some music for two consecutive minutes.)

Next up is SJ Esau, a name I’m not familiar with but it’s just one guy in front of a small array of instruments and devices. Devices! It’s a good sign of a more experimental approach to music than the openers, and should build up to the headliners nicely… and certainly for the first few songs I’m entertained. What SJ Esau does is clever and must be tricky to pull off live: he uses effects loops and delay to capture vocals, guitar and the occasional crash cymbal and utilise them as percussion. It works nicely and the overall effect is pleasantly dreamy, but unfortunately over time I find that the same conceit being re-used over and over wears thin, and too many of songs lack enough variation to keep my attention focused. There are standouts, though, and I look forward to hearing more from this ambitious solo project.

And, at last, Parts & Labor begin. A fair amount of their set is drawn from Receivers - fortunate, really, given that I’ve yet to work through their back catalogue, but rate that album as a standout of 2008. I squeeze back into the room as they run through the 8-minute ‘Satellites’. The venue is crammed now, but I’m fortunate enough to find myself almost at the front with a perfect view of frontman / electronics maestro Dan Friel and guitarist Sarah Lipstate. Oh, lucky fate etc. It’s fascinating to have this view because, whilst I’d have been happy to stand anywhere in the room and listen to songs this good, it adds an extra dimension to watch Friel and Lipstate switching and adjusting effects throughout.

I’m actually struggling to think of more to say here beyond “I really like this band” and “they delivered a great set”. What else to add? I dragged along a bunch of friends who’d not heard the band before and they liked or loved them? I met a man at the bar downstairs who said they were shit and told him he was 100% wrong? I want to marry Sarah Lipstate (or, at a pinch, Dan Friel)? The complexity of what the band do is head and shoulders above my ability to comprehend, but I guess there’s no harm in describing this sufficiently advanced technology as magic and just enjoying the show.

Lonely Ghosts | SJ Esau | Parts & Labor

Via DiS comes the news that Jaguar Love (take two parts Blood Brothers, one part Pretty Girls Make Graves, mix, shake and pour) will be playing a few dates in the UK in advance of their debut album, slated for July release.

The full list of dates:

July
4 London Wireless Festival
5 Brighton Barfly
7 Bristol Academy 2
8 London 100 Club
9 Leeds Cockpit
10 Manchester Roadhouse
12 Scotland T in the Park
13 Ireland Oxygen Festival

Nice to see a Brighton date on that short list – I’ll sure as hell be there.