All Wizard, No Sleeves: Wizard sleeve/Chilli Gibbons and the Purple Monk: 26th March 2016

Picture: Callum Bunker

Wizards sleeve had their EP launch last night and, despite the absence of an EP to be launched (or even a proper stage), showed everyone there what a band can do using a couple of distortion pedals, a dressing up box they found in the loft and a barrel or three of beer.

The gig was on a boat cobbled together out of a couple of buses and decorated with enough animal skeletons to supply a lifetimes worth of nightmares, as well as artwork from Callum Farrell and Abbie Brothers that had been shipped in for one night only and went a long way towards making the place look more “gig” than “someone’s living room”, which is always a danger when the venue actually is someone’s living room. Wizard Sleeve added their own artistic flair with balloons with “Ned Flanders votes Trump” scrawled on in sharpie and a merch stand consisting of a couple of plant pots, a de-icer and a lovely picket fence. It was all a bit weird basically, and at one point I did feel like checking that nobody had slipped any LSD into my beer, especially when a band member wandered off and came back wearing a kilt.

Support was from Chilli Gibbons and the Purple Monk, a two piece band described by their singer as “Garage, Folk and Grunge” (no, not the Craig David kind of Garage, sorry to disappoint) although the emphasis was definitely on the first and last of those three, with the frontman all bulging veins and sweat as he blasted through possibly the shortest set I’ve ever seen a band play, with 4 or 5 songs condensed into about ten minutes of snarl and swagger.

After Chilli Gibbons and the Purple Monk’s Blitzkrieg set was over Wizard Sleeve themselves took to the stage, sharing the same singer as the support (although he had at least changed his shirt in an attempt to stop people noticing). They opened with a bizarre cover of Fat White Family’s “Borderline” performed by Bassist Luke Davies in a crooning Scottish accent, but quickly slammed into their set proper, a kind of psychedelic Punk inspired metal, including an excellent version of “She’s Not There”, more reminiscent of the UK Subs’ cover than the Zombies original and all the better for it.  The band mix the overblown style of early heavy metal with a collection of clothes that include the previously mentioned kilt, an Anonymous-style Guy Fawkes Mask and what can only be described as a bargain basement steampunk ogre outfit, all helped along with a generous mix of face paint and beer. My only real complaint is that the venue was above ground, because if any band is designed for a sweaty basement gig it’s this one.

Overall Wizard Sleeve seem as cobbled together as the boat they were playing on, a hybrid love child of Fat White Family and Black Sabbath that seems to have been dropped on its head at an early age, and by god I love them for it.

Wizard Sleeve are on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/wizard-sleeve

Chilli Gibbons and the Purple Monk aren't online in any form, maybe I hallucinated them after all.

Review-Blossoms at Sub89, Reading- 10th February 2016

Picture: James Polley
 https://jamespolleyphotography.wordpress.com/

Recent contenders for the BBC’s Sound of 2016, Stockport based shoegaze rock band Blossoms played Sub89 on the 10^th of February to a crowd consisting of a mix of 18-21 year olds and 50-60 year olds, with seemingly little in between. Rumour has it that Radio 6 DJ Steve Lamacq turned up but he could’ve been any one of the grey haired men sipping Guinness in the crowd so who knows how much truth there was in that.

Support was in the form of Viola Beach, described by one of their members as “Candy floss in sonic form” and The Vryll Society, who went with the slightly more cryptic description of “Esoteric expansion”.

Blossoms themselves were on excellent form, with each song being received like a fan favourite and the band not putting a foot wrong throughout their (admittedly quite short) set. Breakout hit ‘Charlemagne’ was the highlight of the night, almost being drowned out by the sound of a room full of drunk fans shouting the words, no mean feat considering the song’s only been out for a few months and with this in mind it’s a shame they didn’t save it for last, with the stellar finisher ‘Blow’ seeming a bit of a letdown after the euphoria that preceded it.

The set list itself was predictable, as the band only just have enough songs to carry off a headline slot, so the only real surprise they could manage was the order they’d be playing them in. This is no bad thing however, with the feeling of seeing a band on the cusp of something big lending their performance even more energy.

It’s also nice to see three bands that are clearly having the time of their lives, with a special mention to Viola Beach trying to sell people t-shirts via hypnosis and an old scouser telling me not to call them shoegaze because “shoegaze used to be an insult, y’know?” Well sorry mate I’ve done it but I mean it as the highest praise, I promise.

Overall it’s clear to see that Manchester’s reputation for generating the next big thing (well alright, they’re from Stockport, but that’s close enough for me) is well deserved, with Blossoms a clear candidate for 2016’s breakout indie band. Expect to see them on the cover of the NME looking nonchalant any day now, as in the words of front man Tom Ogden “We just want to be as big as we can” and if their performance at Sub 89 is anything to go by, that’s going to be pretty damned big.

Since writing this review the members of Viola Beach have tragically passed away in a car accident, along with their manager. My thoughts and condolences go out to all involved and I hope that the outpouring of support that ensued provided some small comfort to those who knew them.

"Not a Prophet or a Stone Aged Man”: In Memory of David Bowie

Credit to Ron Frazier

David Bowie, singer, songwriter, actor and full time extra-terrestrial-posing-as-human sadly left us on the 10th of January, leaving the world a decidedly less colourful place. Whilst I’m sure you’ve all seen tributes from the likes of Kanye West all the way to Prime Minister David Cameron I think Bowie may be one person who can never be written about too much, and who deserves every note of over the top praise he receives. With that in mind, what follows is a memorial to the man who was born David Jones in South London and proceeded to change the landscape of both music and culture forever, written by a self-confessed and entirely biased fan of the man and his music.

The musical landscape of England in the last 50 or so years is a hell of a ride, from Rockers to Punks, Skinheads, New Romantics, Ravers, Indie and everything in between, but through it all Bowie managed to stay relevant (save a few years in the 90’s, but we won’t talk about that) and even managed to release a bizarrely cutting edge album on his 69th birthday, an age at which I’ll probably be worrying about whether or not BBC Four will have a documentary on steam trains that night. I won’t go into a full run through of his Number 1 hits in the UK because there probably isn’t enough space in this whole paper for that, let alone in this one piece, but asking people their favourite Bowie Song merits such a variation of answers that it’s amazing that we’re all talking about the same artist, and even more amazing that he was so consistently not just good, but great. Add into this Bowie’s varied film career (Labyrinth and The Man Who Fell to Earth spring to mind, not to mention a brilliant cameo in Zoolander) and you’re looking at somebody that could be called the most influential pop culture icon of the last 50 years without much competition. His sheer sense of style and persona throughout the half century he was active were varied to the extent that he gained the nickname “The Musical Chameleon” and the entire theme of a fancy dress party could be “come as David Bowie” and, aside from ten or so lightning bolt clad Aladdin Sanes you’d be hard pressed to find two people that look alike.

I guess what I’m trying to say in this article is that David Bowie’s death is a cataclysmic event in the landscape of popular culture, but rather than mourn the fact that he isn’t here anymore, we should celebrate, safe in the knowledge that at least he was here in the first place.  In the words of the man himself “I’m happy, hope you’re happy too”.

(Originally published in The Spark*)

Review-Adrenalin Baby-Johnny Marr Live

Press release image

Johnny Marr, best and most fondly remembered as the guitarist and co-writer for The Smiths, has mounted somewhat of a comeback over the last few years, with two solo albums both well received by critics and fans alike. Adrenalin Baby is somewhat different, being a live album recorded from Marr’s tour and including hits from The Smiths’ back catalogue as well as his own and even featuring a cover of The Clash’s famous song I Fought The Law, but the real question is: how well does it hold up?

The answer is surprisingly well, as a confusingly long barrage of noise at the start of Playland soon gives way to a punchy sound that blends Marr’s considerable talent on the guitar with surprisingly slick vocals reminiscent of a pumped up and slightly more in tune Noel Gallagher, although that could be just be due to the Mancunian connection between the two. Between songs the crowd are enthusiastic and the man himself offers a few choice phrases but this crowd noise is only present between numbers and is not allowed to interfere with the songs themselves, meaning you never feel like you have to fight through the cheers to get at the music, an annoyance that many live albums  suffer from.

Marr’s performance on Smiths classics like Bigmouth Strikes Again and There is a Light That Never Goes Out is equally good, with Marr’s guitar being as inimitable and brilliant as ever and his vocals doing a surprisingly good job of fitting the song without devolving into a poor man’s Morrissey karaoke set, something that is easily done (it’s also nice to be able to hear the lyrics that often get lost in Morrissey’s trademark warble). The Post-Smiths offerings are in places just as good and Adrenalin Baby plays like something of a greatest hits for a man that has been active in the industry for so long and has often been unfairly overlooked. Whilst waiting for the first song by The Smiths you realise that Johnny Marr’s made some damned good songs (listen to New Town Velocity and you’ll see what I mean) and many of them may have passed you by, I know they did me.

Overall Adrenalin Baby is a great introduction to Johnny Marr’s solo career and just goes to show that even if he doesn’t make the headlines as much as Morrissey, and may not have the same rabid fan base, he’s still a hell of a musician and a pleasure to listen to. From somebody that has seen Marr live I can also attest to the fact that the crowd reaction in this album isn’t at all staged, he really is that good live and I’d recommend both his live set and this live album to anyone.

(Originally published in The Spark*)