There are
times where you go see a band that nobody you know has heard of and some part
of you thinks you’re being really cool for doing so. People ask you who you’re going to see and
you tell them anyway, knowing full well that they will neither know nor care about
your answer but still, you cling to those cool points. Finally you arrive at the gig, proud of
yourself for having discovered a band so obscure that they can’t even sustain
their own existence only to find that every member of the band are wearing
t-shirts for even more obscure bands
that you’ve never heard of, thus reminding
you how thoroughly uncool you really are.
This was my
experience of what turned out to be a really enjoyable gig.
Wolverhampton
three piece God Damn are up first. They boast heavy, fuzzy guitar tones and
killer grooves, the kind that Monster Magnet used circa Dopes To Infinity, but mix it up with elements of the dynamics of
90s alterative bands, Think The Jesus
Lizard playing Fu Manchu’s guitars.
They’re also really bloody good.
Playing with no bass player (guitar, keys, drums), they often switch
instruments and make for a really exciting live prospect. Keep it up, fellas.
Torche
released one of the great underrated albums of the decade with 2012’s Harmonicraft and didn’t quite match it
with the recent Restarter, but
they’ve done enough to make me wonder why I didn’t discover them sooner. Heavy, fuzzy, full of hypnotic grooves but
Steve Brooks’ laid back, high-register vocals keep them accessible to the point
where I’m surprised they’re not more widely known. They play with minimum fuss but maximum
impact, with impressive segues between songs even when the tempo shifts. Some of their best tunes get an airing,
including the brilliant ‘Sky Trials’, which crams an impressive array of riffs
into its 78 second running time.
I’ll confess
that I was at this gig more for Torche than anything else, but I like Red Fang
and I was curious about how they’d sound.
About to release their 4th album, the Portland four piece sound
not unlike early Queens Of The Stone Age (before anyone knew who they were),
mixed with some of Mastodon’s quirkier moments.
Considering how dense and thick Torche sounded, Red Fang sound a little
tinny and hollow at first but this is soon addressed. At times they look a little shy onstage; a
bit of a problem for headliners. Their
stage set up is also strange: like Mastodon, vocal duties are shared between guitarist
and bassist, but bassist Aaron Beam has a habit of fucking off beside the drum
kit during instrumental breaks, which leaves a bit of a frontman gap and an
oddly unbalanced space onstage. It's distracting when a band member keeps buggering off to the back of the stage!
That said,
they do play really well, offering a varied set but not entirely engaging or
interacting. Their brand of sludge/stoner
metal is elevated above the pack by the band’s sense of humour and rock and
roll sensibilities, with an emphasis on fun over bludgeon. It’s the same problem that’ll stop Mastodon
from ever reaching arena level: big bands need a frontman. However, it’s unfair to reduce them to a few
obscure musical similarities when Red Fang have an identity of their own but
until one of them steps us the stage presence they’re unlikely to break out of
playing venues this size.
Overall this
was a fun night, but one spent pondering how obscure one’s band has to be for a
fairly obscure stoner band to wear on of your t-shirts. That I had to think
about this proves that I am the least cool person you know.
No comments:
Post a Comment