words IAIN PEEBLES and NOEL GARDNER
VIRALS
The Moon Club, Thurs 18
For a while there, Lovvers – Shaun Hencher’s band before Virals, for whom he now sings and plays guitar – were one of the raddest rock bands in the UK. Despite coming from a more-or-less DIY punk background, it briefly looked as if they might even meet with some success, but their one profitable trick turned was selling a song to a mobile phone ad. Virals, currently one EP and one single old, don’t seem to be in a rush to go places, but they are more obviously accessible than Lovvers: their songs take in garage, jangly college rock, the Pixies and even doowop. The audience, who I doubt were all innately familiar with their output to date, are decent in number, appreciative and mostly stay in the room (the nature of Swn means people tend to exit gigs at the drop of a hat). I didn’t hear anyone wondering to their mate if the drummer’s cut-off Exodus Bonded By Blood shirt was ironic, but I bet someone was. NG
BO NINGEN
Dempseys, Fri 19
The word on the street suggested Bo Ningen were going to draw a big crowd, but few would have guessed that more people would be stuck in a queue outside Dempseys towards the close of Friday night than would be inside to witness the majesty within. With flowing jet black hair and equally flowing dresses, Bo Ningen pummelled a gleeful audience with wave upon wave of pulsing pyschedelic rock. Solos were delivered with a punk intensity, free of the jazz and prog leanings of fellow psychedelic countrymen Acid Mothers Temple. It was almost too much at times and left you hankering after a slow burner. When that moment came, the psychedelic pummelling couldn’t recommence soon enough. The band obliged, the sweat-soaked crowd went wild and another legendary Swn performance was complete. IP
RANGDA
The Moon Club, Fri 19
Rangda produced a performance on the Friday night that proved they are more than the sum of their parts. A mighty achievement considering they comprise Ben ‘Six Organs Of Admittance’ Chasny, former Sun City Girl Sir Richard Bishop and drum wunderkind Chris Corsano. No strangers to improvisation, the trio unleash a torrent of eastern-inflected psych that’s both sprawling yet focussed and incredibly tight. It felt like those in the audience who knew what to expect weren’t disappointed, while the rest were left with jaws on the floor, wondering how anyone could manage to be better in the forthcoming days. IP
IFAN DAFYDD / PEDESTRIAN / BODHI / TODDLA T
Undertone and Clwb Ifor Bach, Fri 19
The gloamy Undertone venue can often be found putting the bass into basement, and gets some five hours to do so on Friday night-into-Saturday morning, with a showcase for Ifan Dafydd’s Push & Run label. The north Wales producer, now resident in London, supplies bass-heavy quasi-house and very modern garage for a pretty young, highly excitable and – considering no-one on the bill is a household name quite yet – cheerfully busy crowd. Then Pedestrian does something pretty similar. Then Bodhi, a duo now based in Cardiff, do something pretty similar, albeit a bit more ‘upfront’. Like a lot of Undertone nights, it feels like a swollen house party, all mysterious CDRs, leaning over the decks and general raucousness.
Exiting to go and catch Toddla T in Clwb Ifor, it appears that everyone chose the Push & Run crew over the Sheffield hybridist. He played to a mere few dozen people last time he was here, and history repeats itself tonight. Time-honoured rave bangers are wheeled out dutifully, but if I were in his shoes I’d sack this place off next time I was asked. NG
MARTIN CREED
Dempseys, Sat 20
Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Creed, and his impeccably dressed band, delivered a short but sweet 30 minutes of sparse and simple post-punk to a similarly sparse crowd in Dempseys on Saturday night. The songs were split fairly evenly between those covering the overly familiar tropes of love and longing: probably knowingly so, as the remainder played with the conventions of the genre, often by boiling the lyrics down to the repetition of a single word or even letter. If this all sounds annoyingly arch then you can be reassured that the earnest and charming nature in which it was delivered prevented it from being so. IP
VERITY SUSMAN
Chapter Arts Centre, Sat 20
Towards the end of the last decade Electralene went on indefinite hiatus in order to “do other things”. Few would have guessed that the “other things” multi-instrumentalist Verity Susman would do include assembling video footage depicting Star Trek based lesbian fan fiction. But that’s what was presented to an often confused audience in the Studio of Chapter on Saturday evening. The accompanying soundtrack saw a (false) moustachioed Susman build loops of vocals, sax and keyboards into a swirling maelstrom of sound into beat driven potential dancefloor fillers. The handful of audience members that left during the opening salvo of sax squawk may not have left any less confused had they stuck around but they would have left infinitely more charmed. IP
COLD PUMAS
Clwb Ifor Bach, Sun 21
Clanging metallic Kraut-inflected jams with more than a hint of the Factory Records sound is the order of the day here. Riffs are repeated to their logical conclusion, seemingly designed to concuss the presumably fragile audience of Clwb Ifor Bach on Sunday afternoon. It’s a wonder that the whole thing isn’t more engaging because, on paper, it should be. At least to my ears. Perhaps it’s the faint whiff of mid-90s indie-rock that pervades, the memory of a period of time in music that is best left forgotten clouding what could have been an ideal Sunday afternoon treat. IP
ISLET
The Moon Club, Sun 21
Islet reconvened in The Moon on Sunday evening for a ‘secret’ gig, presumably for those who couldn’t get into their oversubscribed appearance in Chapter Arts Centre on Saturday. It’s this kind of tireless gigging that has honed Islet into a tight unit capable of turning from ferocious tribal drumming to soaring, angelic vocals in an instant. That they manage this whilst retaining an endearing playfulness is testament to their skill. Tonight’s performance is no exception. Islet deliver an assured performance to an enthused, if partisan, audience that solidifies their position as one of the most exciting bands the UK has to offer. IP