For Pontypridd punk-metal power trio Zinc Bukowski – tonight supporting White Hills in Newport’s Le Public Space – it’s all about the bass – or at least it is tonight. Care For This …?, the title track of their 2019 album, in particular, boasts one of those relentless, steroidal basslines that stare you down and batters you into submission. Marc Real has clearly made himself very much at home since joining on four-string duties in the summer, quickly established as the fulcrum around which everything else pivots. It’s a shame, then, that the guitar sound is as tame as a declawed lap cat, which does the band’s fiercer moments a considerable disservice.
In many ways, headliners White Hills – not to be confused with kindred psychonauts White Manna or Black Mountain – suffer from the exact opposite problem. Without a dedicated bass player, the duo – over from New York and now very much on the home straight of a UK tour – lack any kind of ballast. As a result, they repeatedly sell themselves short, certainly in comparison to the power and intensity of recent LP The Revenge Of Heads On Fire.
On Ocean Of Sound, the pair seem to be not so much on different pages as in different time zones. If Dave W and Ego Sensation do share any chemical dynamism, it fails to fizz. Song after song falls flat, not helped by expectation levels (too high) and volume levels (too low). Even Don’t Be Afraid – on record, a thrilling joyride to the heart of the sun – is disappointingly pallid. The sense of underwhelm is palpable.
White Hills come with impeccable credentials – records released through Thrill Jockey and Rocket, a list of collaborators that features Kid Millions, and an array of clued-up fans including Julian Cope and Jim Jarmusch – but this evening, at least, that all counts for very little. “Are you ready for honesty?” they ask on final track Honesty, a semi-industrial grind recorded with Simone Marie Butler of Primal Scream. Sometimes, the truth hurts.
White Hills / Zinc Bukowski, Le Public Space, Newport, Mon 14 Nov
words BEN WOOLHEAD photos @vogonlaundromat
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