Band: Flashguns
Day: Saturday 15th
Time: 10.30-11.15
Place: Buffalo Bar
Bill: Paul Hawkins And Thee Awkward Silences, Fredrick Stanley Star, Attack + Defend
Myspace Genre: Indie/New Wave/Soul

Local? Brighton
Am I being biased as they've played Joy? No but slightly biased because they're playing a Shape gig.

The gig this band are headlining is put together by the Attack + Defend guys under their Shape guise. They're always interesting and often ace. The organisors also open the show and are well worth catching but this preview is for Flashguns. This young Brighton fourpiece, so young that they're still in school, ably display the wiry energy and catchy choruses of a whole host of fellow indie upstarts but combine it with a more reflective and mature edge that they've no doubt developed through their obvious love of classic 80's British indie, most notably The Smiths and The Cure. You can probably add Interpol to that list too. The advantage they have for me is that their singer doesn't annoy the hell out of me (hello Morrissey), they sound older than their tender school uniformed years should reasonably allow and it's this maturity and commitment to their craft that lifts them head and shoulders above many older indie also-rans and is sure to win them scores of new fans.

Labels: buffalo bar, flashguns, shape, swn

If last night proved anything, the Cardiff indie scene is in rude health. Fredrick Stanley Star are hardly known outside of South Walian circles, and listeners to Radio 1's Welsh programme. Yet last night was a sell out - mostly thanks to the excellent word of mouth that FSS generate. It helps that bands support each other here, and much of the audience was made up of other misfits who spend their free time making wonderful music. In fact, the night itself was put on by Attack and Defend's DIY label Shape, who all looked a bit amazed and bedazzled as the night unravelled.

Among the support for 'Stanley Star tonight was the extraordinary Little Bear Wails. My learned friend told me this was only their third show. They look like they have been doing this for years and years, and were having tremendous fun on stage. If there's a concept here, its to get as drunk as possible while sounding like a pirate. This is the noise pissed and frustrated sailors would have made in the 19th century, with electric guitar, after returning from a four month long voyage. I don't think I've ever seen stomping used as a major form of percussion as part of a band's repertoire either. Awesome.

Fredrick Stanley Star, then. The first time I saw this band I was bowled over and surprised by their unity and passion, combined with their shambolic charm. This was still on show tonight. As Shape looked totally surprised by the turnout, FSS looked like the adulation and support from the crowd was beyond anything they had expected for the evening. They managed to hold their composure while the audience cheered for them, with the odd giggle of acknowledgement. FSS work in slow build ups and pace changes, building harmonies upon harmonies until they break under their own weight and the music needs to go somewhere else.

The whole time I'm wondering where this kind of music comes from. Out of my window at home I can see Plasnewydd terraces, not rolling hills and hillbillies. FSS are an escape from urbanism, from hard angles, concrete guitars and concentrated noise. You can literally close your eyes and let them carry you away into their universe, although if you did that you'd miss quite a show. If there are any negatives from the night, and this is a minor niggle, its that FSS would really benefit from a quieter atmosphere. But they still put on an amazing and powerful show even with the background fuzz. The album - Heaviside Layer - is out on Monday from Spillers and Diverse.

PS: Yes, sorry, Broken Leaf also played last night. Sadly the poor reviewer only arrived as Broken Leaf was finishing, although what I heard was quite suttle and splendid, and very much tied in with the rest of the evening.

Labels: broken leaf, cardiff, clwb ifor bach, fredrick stanley star, fss, saesneg, shape

Seabear were awesome, I think they've nicked top spot in my best live band end of year poll. Just thought I'd get that in early. I'm getting ahead of myself though as the evening didn't begin with a Seabear, it began with a Sea Cow...

When you first set eyes on Jam On Bread you could hazard a guess at where this was going. Beardy man (more later) with ukulele emblazoned with a Times New Viking sticker. He (as he is but one man) kicked things off with a song called 'I'd Choose To Be A Manatee' which was all about wanting to be a Sea Cow (understand now?). With lyrics such as 'don't have to pay council tax or worry about terrorist attacks' it was hard to argue the point. This was followed by more oddities, a song about a Swedish record label and a song about eighties pop lyrics that quoted Jason Donovan. The lyrics were personal without being self indulgent, quirky without being annoying and funny without being daft. A song about his having the piss taken out of him for having a beard went, ' they like to call be Jesus which I thinks a bit odd, I've got a bit of a beard, I'm not the son of God'. Good call. Thoroughly entertaining.

The filling in the Bear sandwich was Alex Dingley and his band. I'll be honest, I'm a bit confused by this lot. They started with a song called 'The Matador' which was pretty folky and could've been The Battlefield Band or something. I started to panic a bit at this point thinking I might be about to watch a Levellers support act. The guitars kicked in from that moment on though (bass was sporting the evening's second Times New Viking sticker, it nestled alongside a ...Trail Of Dead one) and the crowd started showing the kind of adoration that has led to my confusion. They're by no means a bad band but the crowd reaction led me to believe I was watching The Clash, I think I was missing something. To be fair, the two people I spoke to afterward both owned the album and urged me to give it a listen. I will, mainly because the last 4 songs sounded a bit like The Crocketts and I fucking loved The Crocketts.

On to the headliners and my new favourite Icelanders. I go and watch loads of bands these days and work in a record shop so listen to loads of music so it's really not often that I hear something that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It's so hard to describe this music to someone without them hearing it because it didn't really sound like anything I have a reference point for. I'll damn well try though. The have members of both Sigur Ros and Mum's touring bands and you can see parts of both in patches. Seabear though are a different proposition, the songs aren't 11 minutes long for a start. The layers of instruments underpinned by the haunting trumpet playing, by a man incidentally, that looked like he was having the most fun in the world, recalled Beirut, if Beirut had grown up playing Bjork hurling on a remote island rather than in Santa Fe (to my knowledge they didn't play Bjork hurling in Santa Fe either, I'll check Wikipedia).
There was acoustic guitar, violin, keys, electric guitar, a mad instrument that was like a harmonica with horns coming out of it, a trumpet, bass, drums and a voice that brought to mind Tom Barman from dEUS in his more reflective moments (ie not screaming 'Friday, Friday, Friday' at people). The band looked like they were having a blast and wherever I looked there were people grinning.
The last song was called 'Lion Faced Boy' and was 'about a boy, who ate a face, and screamed like a lion'. Nuts, obviously but nuts in a genius Neutral Milk Hotel (look them up) kind of way as opposed to a 'look at me, I'm trying to hard' kind of way. It all just worked beautifully and I urge everyone that likes music to try and see them live or at least buy their album. I'll leave you with the words of my friend Sioned:
"They completely envelop and overwhelm me, I keep getting goosepimples and my face hurts from smiling".
I really can't think of a better way to sum them up.

So another great night from the guys at Shape, ably co-promoted by Dance Like This. Keep it up people, keep it up.

Labels: clwb ifor bach, dance like this, jam on bread, seabear, shape, the alex dingley band

OK, first up is a mental note to self to go find Ellen and say hi next time so we don't review the same thing. This could be fun though as I'm bollocks at doing reviews, that why I post a lot of previews, I can steal other people's hard work. However, I'm a pro, I turned up early (mainly because I like Zissou) and only had a pint of Coke all night so my feelings weren't tainted by piss poor wine and I even took a note book so that I looked like a wanker and could remember things. So, here goes...

The night was put on by Shape who are run by the good members of Attack + Defend. It's actually a bit like what we try and do at Joy, put on some diverse and interesting bands with some visuals and have a night that's a bit different to the norm. Last night there were three bands.

Zissou were first up (either Ellen missed them or didn't want to do comparisons to her own band!), the first thing I notice is that Rhys had grown a shitting massive beard. Quality. Anyway, I've seen Zissou twice before when they've played at Joy and the sound has been a lot better than it was last night. These guys have a lot going on at once, there's 6 of them playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, violin, wierd tubey, blowy mini keyboard thing (yeah, yeah, do you know what it's called?) plus 3 of them singing, when they started I could hardly hear the vocals and everything else sounded a bit muddy. It did get better though. The first part of what I've described above is what's going to earn them the LC! parallels. To be honest I just think that they've arrived at a similar place through sharing a lot of influences, there's a bit of Broken Social Scene in there, a bit of Flaming Lips and at times, and this is what sets them apart, a bit of Sonic Youth. Yes, there's duel vocals and catchy indie songs, they're rough around the edges but I don't mean they're not practised, just that they don't want to be a polished pop band. When Jack is giving it his all on guitar and Rhys is hammering his violin they sound like they could easily appear between Mogwai and Slint on an ATP bill. If you want to go and see a band that have all the tunes (and t-shirts) of the indie scene but the mindset of a punk band, check out Zissou.

Next on were The Jelas and I have to say that agree with Ellen on this one, the wine had nothing to do with it. If someone said that I was going to see a discordant rock band with awkward time changes and a singer that looked like Thurston Moore I would kind of assume I was going to like them. If you imagine you have jigsaw pieces representing Captain Beefheart, Pixies, Deerhoof, Moldy Peaches and Sonic Youth that didn't quite fit and needed twatting together with a hammer then you'll get an idea of this band. Nice, off key, Malkmus-esque vocals, a great drummer and talented bassist/hamlet can on stick player were all excellent individually but needed to click more together. As somebody stood next to me said 'if that's them playing, I'd hate to hear them practise'. Maybe they just weren't my thing as they seemed to go down well with the rest of the (very full) venue.

And now Yacht. I have to admit that as soon as they started I thought 'The Death Set' to myself. There are definite similarities, shouty vocals over what is essentially a karaoke track, mostly bass and beat driven, occasional guitar and on the second track a tinkly piano that I briefly thought might turn them into Utah Saints (U-U-U-Utah Saints). The general song structure seemed to consist of call and response, repetitive boy/girl vocals but to be honest, nobody cared because although I'm not going to rush out and buy the album, they were wildly entertaining and did everything with a smile and a sense of humour. There was some classy dancing that's synchronicity put Tom Daley and his whinging diving partner to shame. There was also an inter-song geography lesson showing us where they were from, USA, West Coast, Portland, North Portland, right down to a photo of their house and their address (4008, N Mississippi Avenue #4, Portland, 97227-1114). A friend of mine thought they 'were like Nathan Barley dressed by the cast of Mad Max', they weren't his thing. They were fun though, there was a lot of messing about with a laptop and a mid-set Q&A but as the band themselves said 'professionalism - who wants it, who needs it, fuck you'.

Labels: clwb ifor bach, shape, the jelas, yacht, zissou

OK, this is either a very good or very bad night depending on your ability to afford to pay for both and run up and down stairs.

We'll start upstairs where P4 Music present Micah P Hinson.
Micah P Hinson has known trouble. Raised in Abilene, Texas, as a teenager he became addicted to painkillers. In early 2000, he was caught forging prescriptions and sent to county jail, losing his car, his home, his money and all his possessions. By the age of 20, Hinson was a bankrupt ex-con, living in a motel and working in telemarketing. But as news of this gifted singer-songwriter began to spread on the strength of his 2004 debut album, …And The Gospel Of Progress, a tap on the back from a friend on a night out bizarrely resulted in a dislocated vertebrae – and more pain medication. …And The Red Empire Orchestra – his latest and greatest collection of sparse, yet beautiful country songs, delivered in his inexplicably timeworn burr – is the record that almost wasn’t.

The now-27-year-old returned from touring his second album …And The Opera Circuit, with chronic back pain from complications to his slipped disc and worsening health. Afterwards, it was clear something had to give – Hinson returned to Austin, Texas with plans to take a year off, writing new songs occasionally in between visits to doctors. As time passed, Hinson began contemplating his next move; the life of a touring musician was becoming a memory and, though he was concerned about losing his public, he was unsure when – or how – to make the next move. One day, a letter arrived from producer / engineer John Congleton (The Polyphonic Spree, Explosions in the Sky, Black Mountain, Antony and the Johnsons) expressing interest in working with Hinson, and it proved to be a pivotal moment for the Texan trouble man. “This letter pulled me out of the rut I had found myself in,” says Hinson. “Once I got this letter, something felt right and I knew the calling was there.” The artist and the producer started talking about how to proceed, agreeing to meet up for a week in Carrollton, Texas, where they pieced together ideas using recordings Micah had made during his year off as the basis for a new album. “In my mind, it was a strange experience,” says Hinson. “I wasn't used to being told whether I was doing a shit job or not. I would be in the booth, trying my damnedest to make a good take, and here would be this man in my earphones saying, ‘Ah hell, you can do better than that, I really didn't believe you there.’ It was a good thing. It felt as if we were making this record out of clear and pure intention.”

The album was finished in another week and a half, this time in Oak Cliff, Texas, in a studio built in a converted funeral home. Strings are an integral part of Hinson’s sound, but here was a problem: Hinson’s regular arranger Eric Bachman was unavailable, so they relied on Congleton’s contact book, recruiting members of The Polyphonic Spree, The Paper Chase and The Drams and a veteran of the opera circuit Nick Phelps. “These characters came in over the length of a few days and they proceeded to destroy my songs,” says Hinson. “I knew in my heart that we had something on our hands. The Red Empire Orchestra had finally turned into a proper monster, which in my mind, needed to be reckoned with.” It’s here, then, that we find Micah P. Hinson in 2008, confidence restored and life back on track – he even proposed to his girlfriend live on stage at Islington’s Union Chapel in December 2007. The wedding took place at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Abilene on 6th April 2008. “Damn right I am happy. I have won! the race is over! I truly have found the love of my life and a woman who loves me unconditionally!” “I find myself ready to take on the world again, and show them what I have up my sleeve,” he says.

Support comes from the wonderful Absentee who I witnessed opening the first End Of The Road festival. If lovetorn tunes and baritone vocals are your thing (do you flick between Leonard Cohen and The Tindersticks on your itunes?) then you'd best get there early.

Doors 7:30pm | £9.50/£10.50. Tickets for this one available in Diverse for the people of Newport. Spillers in Cardiff and probably somewhere online for those of you that hate record shops.

And now on to downstairs where Shape Records are putting on an equally good show. Headlining is Yacht.

YACHT is a lot of things. It’s kind of a band, but it’s mostly a genre-and-media-spanning life project founded and led by Jona Bechtolt of the Northwest’s very own Portland, Oregon. Bechtolt (and new member Claire L. Evans) make anthemic power jams, play them backwards and soak them in nearly-psychedelic cherry cola. YACHT’s heart is the shows: uncluttered, inspiring sessions of damaged dance moves and synchronized crowd-waving, backed by constantly changing elements -- PowerPoint presentations, audience Q&A sessions, and shamanistic video environments.

Support comes in the form of The Jelas and Zissou. A special mention to Zissou as they've played at Joy twice and I've really enjoyed them on both occasions. Think quirkly, upbeat indie pop, Flaming Lips being possibly the most mainstream reference point I can think of. Again, get there early. In fact, always go to gigs early, you're paying your money, go see as many bands as you can!!

Doors 7:30pm | £5/£6

Labels: clwb ifor bach, joy, micah p hinson, shape, yacht, zissou