The gig on Friday went really well; about 70 people down there in the end, maybe half of whom watched us. It’s the first show we’ve played where I was happy with my performance (I always play worse live because of nerves; anxiety?! What anxiety?) and where I believed everyone who said we played a good set. My sister and her boyfriend came up from Southampton to see us, which was super cool of them, and plenty of other friendly faces were there too. Probably my favourite remark was being told that we reminded someone of As Friends Rust and Grade. I fucking love As Friends Rust but have never consciously tried to imitate them.
Houston Has A Problem and Another Day Lost also put in storming sets; a privilege and a pleasure to play alongside ‘em.
Anyway, aside from the possibility that we’ll have another show on January 30th – a Haiti benefit at the Hare & Hounds – our new plan is to get on with writing some new songs. Watch this space. Or our MySpace.
Where “best” is used in the subjective sense of “what I liked the most”. You want analyses of what was most finely crafted or most significant in terms of pop cultural trends, go read Pitchfork or a music postgraduate’s dissertation. Here’s what caught my imagination, heart, and desire to put my fist in the air this year. » Read the rest of this entry «
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.
» Read the rest of this entry «
Yes, we have another show. A mere five and a half months after our first! The world of rock & roll is fast-paced and demanding, and many get left behind. But not we: we have seized the reigns and are clinging firmly to the frenzied horse of punk rock.
Okay, actually, our drummer quit right after Christmas, we took a couple of months out, and we found a new drummer in March/April. We’ve had about a half dozen practices now and everything is going well, so when we got offered the chance to play with Chillerton and Cheap Girls we jumped at the chance. Actually, I like Chillerton enough that I had a little jaw-drop moment when I heard. I must’ve listened to their side of the split EP with When All Else Fails a hundred times.
Anyway, we’re on first, so I’m guessing that’ll be at about half seven, eight-ish. After us is Kept By Casino (who were Jalopy), then Chillerton, and finally touring US band Cheap Girls.
We play melodic rock with a sort of punky edge. Lots of harmonics and octave chords. We like that. I’m not sure what Kept By Casino play, but I’ve read “too indie to be punk; too post-hardcore to be indie and too punk to be post-hardcore. Fans of McLusky take note!” MySpace page is here. Chillerton play melodic hardcore / gruff pop-punk in the vein of No Idea, but with a South Coast spin. Cheap Girls play power pop that’s reminiscent of Smoking Popes and the Lemonheads. It looks like being a varied, fun line-up, plus it’s £FREE! So do come down and check it out. And if you like what is fed to your ears, bung some cash in the donation bucket so that the tour can afford petrol and food.
Click on the flyer thumbnail to see a bigger version. Facebook event page here, Last.fm event page here.
[ P.S. I'll be getting back from ATP the same day as this gig, so I will be hilariously hungover and tired. I am sure that this is a recipe for Inevitable Good Times. ]
The gig on Friday went really well; about 70 people down there in the end, maybe half of whom watched us. It’s the first show we’ve played where I was happy with my performance (I always play worse live because of nerves; anxiety?! What anxiety?) and where I believed everyone who said we played a good set. My sister and her boyfriend came up from Southampton to see us, which was super cool of them, and plenty of other friendly faces were there too. Probably my favourite remark was being told that we reminded someone of As Friends Rust and Grade. I fucking love As Friends Rust but have never consciously tried to imitate them.