Three Day Benda (Mista Mushroom / Harpoon Larsen) @ The Registry, Portsmouth. 02/02/06

Originally published at http://www.the-mag.me.uk/?ArticleId=1001

Three Day Benda (Mista Mushroom / Harpoon Larsen) @ The Registry, Portsmouth. 02/02/06

Tonight's punk-fest is being held in the student hang-out the Registry, a venue that I never really thought would lend itself to live bands due to the awkward shape. The stage is set up in a corner by the bar next to the DJ/soundman and has one constant spectator; a bloody great beam directly in front of the centre of the stage. It seems logical to stand in front of this thing in order to be able to see, because of which all tonight's bands enjoy a tightly packed group of spectators.
The first band to benefit from this layout is Harpoon Larsen, a band whose name conjures thought of some new Swedish soccer superstar taking the Premiership by storm. Instead I get ‘ska pop whalecore' (apparently), producing epic 10-minute bubblegum punk songs that flow well from section to section, a style that I find surprisingly interesting (I'm not the world's biggest pop punk fan). The odd slip out of time didn't dent the show too much, although the very short front man's lack of conviction with a microphone might be something to rectify for future performances.

Next on the bill on Mista Mushroom, a band who promote themselves as 'ska hoodlum newcomers'. As they stroll on I suddenly remember seeing them once before and my previous thoughts on their performance come flooding back. My main three observations were; the singer looks very much like Robert Smith, I find them slightly too arrogant for their own good, and the music suggests more than just a small influence from madcap band Mr. Bungle. I told the singer this at the Wedgewood Rooms and it didn't go down too well. "But I like Mr. Bungle" I protested, to which he just kind of sneered and mumbled to himself.
Maybe I was too harsh on the guy. I mean they are a great band, the main plus point being that halfway through most of their tunes it gets very hard to distinguish any punk ska influence at all, and in a genre that has minimal diversity, this is an invaluable ability to practice. Despite their songs not being widely known, we were able to sing along during sections containing lyrics ripped out of Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the Mighty Boosh and Limp Bizkit. These bits are funny but drag on for a bit too long; irony is only humorous for a short while and it certainly isn't new or witty. Despite this they played with a confidence that suggests longevity and success for the future and the musical ability shows a potential to develop into something unique and intriguing. Watch this space.

As Three Day Benda take to the stage the crowd has thinned out quite a bit, once again showcasing my biggest gripe with unsigned band gigs; the bands take their fans with them when they leave. In defiance it take 3DB just half a song to muster up a crowd, and by the middle of the set some of the most unlikely fans are skanking their nuts off up front (i.e. skinheads who initially seem to be taking the piss but end up loving it). Classic punk banter involving penises, housemate auctions and a makeshift merchandise model fills in the cracks between songs, for which the trumpeter, guitarist and singer receive the joint front man award for tonight. There's no actual trophy though. Sorry.
Although with tunes such as "Elements of Confusion" and "Bar-Mitzvah" it shouldn't be long before this band get rewarded with a slightly more prestigious trophy; that of a shiny new record deal. These are highly polished tunes that rock, croon and pop in equal measure but in a series of wild and unpredictable sequences that keep the set lively and interesting.
I left the Registry deafened in one ear which I suppose is a consequence of being totally transfixed on an act for forty minutes. A night of crazy ska punk and a sensory injury for a measly £2 entry fee? Value I'm sure you'll agree.

My Ruin/GU Medicine @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, 30/01/06

Originally published at http://www.disordermagazine.net/article.php?id=62

My Ruin/GU Medicine @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, 30/01/06

Entering the Wedge tonight takes me back to my college days when nu-metal was king and the only real alternatives were the Strokes and Coldplay. Back then I wore my chain, stupid mid-length baggy jeans and One Minute Silence t-shirt with pride. I laughed at pictures of my parents in their 70s gear, convinced that I would never look back at my ‘style’ choice with regret. If there’s one thing more distressing than looking around at the misfits in the Wedgewood Rooms tonight, it’s the fact that many of them remind me of myself five years ago. Eek!

Although I grew out of the image from back then I certainly did not grow out of my appreciation for heavy music. Luckily, G.U. Medicine deliver exactly that. As they kick off a bitch fight starts mere meters away from me; a mess of hair and nails and screeching that no man would be stupid enough to get in the middle of. G.U. Medicine embody the spirit of punk rock, spitting out tune after tune without letting up until the very end of their final song. The relentless crunching guitars remind me of Sick of it All, whilst the barked vocals seem like a combination of Entombed and Bruce Dickinson’s controlled epic singing style. The front man seems weathered and well practiced; it takes a special kind of singer to make minimum movements and hold my attention for the entire set, which this guy pulls of seamlessly.

I can’t help but think that My Ruin have a hard act to follow. They march on to the smoky stage to the tune of a creepy spoken intro which is presumably the voice of Tairrie B, the female singer and leader of this motley crew of Californians. From the very first song she is right up in the audience’s faces, quite literally coming nose to nose with whichever pierced face she finds the most attractive. It’s hard to see her clearly from where I am stood, as she is literally part of the crowd for most of the time. When she does step into view I have to have a double-take; is that Toyah Wilcox? She’s got an orange and black mullet surrounding her cute chubby face like a keratin picture frame, it’s something I notice but admittedly not strictly a musical matter.

In actual fact My Ruin’s music has a similar appeal to that of Tairrie B’s hairdo: initially interesting, occasionally captivating but soon pretty boring. Tairrie’s screaming voice is pretty impressive ‘for a girl’ (may get strung up for that comment) but in broad metal terms it is nothing spectacular. It is constantly at the same low pitch and shows minimal ingenuity, much like the repetitive feel of the band’s tunes. The riffs are muddy and stomp along at the same plodding speed throughout the entire set. There is a very clear separation between lasting metal genres and the less musically-adept nu-metal, and tonight My Ruin highlight the reasons why the fleeting genre of heavy music died out.

On a positive note, the guitarist and drummer are incredible musicians and every now and then they get the chance to show us this. Some of the solos remind me of the late great Dimebag Daryll’s axe work, wailing and screeching with the utmost control and rhythm. The drummer shows his skills by playing each simple beat in as awkward a way as possible, spinning his sticks and switching positions in such a way that makes his experience obvious. I can’t help but wonder what these guys would produce outside of the simplified framework of this outdated brand of metal.

Whilst the Goths and the misfits deafen me between every song with their admiration for the group, I am extremely underwhelmed. There’s a limit to how long sporadic soloing and big hair can exclusively hold my interest, and tonight I found my limit.

www.myruin.com

3 Feb 2006 by Matt S.

The Kooks/ The Automatic @ Southampton Joiners. 24/01/06

Article originally published at http://www.disordermagazine.net/article.php?id=132

The Kooks/ The Automatic @ Southampton Joiners. 24/01/06

Tickets for this intimate gig selling were on ebay for almost £90 per pair. Inside the venue I study a few faces trying to figure out what type of person could possibly like this band enough to pay such an absurd price, but stop when I realize that I myself paid £15 for the £6 face value ticket.

After a long, long wait in a restless sweaty crowd The Automatic finally take to the stage to the relief of the adolescent crowd. By now I’ve already sunk my only beer of the night (I’m driving… again), so I’m forced to watch the remainder of the show fuelled only on coke and/or water. The big guy on bass is stood centre stage and says “hello” in that timid way bands do when they don’t want to appear arrogant, and they tear into their first tune. When I say ‘tear’ I actually mean ‘cut along the previously marked-out guidelines’, as we are revisiting Brit-pop here people. I’ve often wondered who would follow in Kaiser Chief’s footsteps with the whole rigidly-structured catchy twist on the current ‘jerky-riff’ craze, and tonight I am presented with an example of just such a band.

Performance-wise this is a one-man show. Pennie the synth man twists and contorts over his sound manipulation equipment before teetering on the edge of the stage over the audience, barking backing vocals into his mic as if the rest of the band forgot to walk him, which is entirely possible considering they forgot to bring their charisma onstage tonight. Without Pennie they would just be an indie band with catchy songs and a slightly nervous front man (who has lost his voice tonight), apparently this young keyboardist has to entertain a sold out Alexandra Palace on his own on April 22nd supporting, you guessed it, the Kaiser Chiefs.

A security man guides The Kooks through the crowd (there is no rear access to the stage here) and the female contingent raise an ear-splitting screech for lead singer Luke.

He sees this as a perfect opportunity to ham it up even more by kicking off with solo piece ‘Seaside’, a nostalgic dip of the toe into coast-based childhood. After this the girl fans are like lambs to the slaughter, and the whole band tear into the material from recently-released album ‘Inside In/ Inside Out’. As far as I can hear this is good ol’ fashioned Rock ‘n’ Roll, with most songs being entirely chord-based. There are no ‘Libertines-esque’ riffs being sold here, just straightforward verse-chorus singalong tunes that all require the same speed of head-nodding. A rhythm that begins to get a tad boring, conveniently at a time when I am thirsty.

When I return with my plastic tumbler of Coke and scramble for somewhere to stand, the music that greets me sounds strangely different not unlike the Dire Straights classic ‘Sultans of Swing’. In actual fact it’s ‘Ooh La’, and I’m probably the only person in the audience who makes the classic rock connection. Is it because I’m sad? because I’m relatively uncool? (I don’t wear scarves indoors on general principle) Whatever the reason it’s the highlight of my night, but I still find myself hoping that they don’t treat us to an encore.

Officially, The Kooks ‘rock’ the Joiners tonight. They play to their strengths and to their existing fans, but I’m not sure if performances like this will win them too many new fans in larger venues. They can for now however, consider the Southampton Joiners’ slain.

www.thekooks.co.uk, www.theautomatic.co.uk and of course, they are both on www.myspace.com.
30 Jan 2006 by Matt S