On a recent single from their latest album, Bristol indie fuzzers Langkamer sing pensively about a storm in a coffee cup. But as they kicked off the second leg of their UK tour on home soil it was more of a storm in the Jam Jar, one of the city’s hidden gem venues which proved the perfect place for the four-piece to smash a bottle of champagne against new album No.
On a chilly Saturday night at the Grove, Newcastle, Divorce walk out onstage beneath a hand-painted blue banner, a bright, home-made backdrop that perfectly frames their lively, DIY world. The band are touring their debut album, Drive to Goldenhammer, an ode to the band’s home of Nottingham and an escape into the refuge of creation. They open with Karen, a lullaby-esque entry into the world of Goldenhammer, and barrel straight into the anthemic Jet Show without taking a breath. Next is Gears, an older single and the set’s first example of the two vocalists’ perfectly blended harmonies, erupting into a frustrated chorus.
Inside Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club, the post-gig after party (1) is in full swing. The floor’s been swept of its discarded beer cups, the residue still sticky on the boot soles. The tunes are uplifting but not quite matching a euphoric aura that hangs in the air - because we’re only midway between back-to-back sold out sets from Minehead’s finest (and only?) - Getdown Services.
“Are you ready to collide?” echoed around Queen Square in Bristol twice, and twice 15,000 bodies answered the barked question in the emphatic affirmative. IDLES were back in town, making their only UK gigs of the year into full-scale block parties across the first Friday and Saturday in August for an exquisite homecoming.
No strangers to touring,
a punk vibe so alluring,
Lambrini Girls are coming to town...
We’ve watched them here before,
From the Brudenell 's sticky floor,
This Brighton-based band won’t let you down.
Prior to this show, the not-entirely-positive reviews coming out of recent US tours had given me a sense of foreboding, which was not entirely justified. Strong support came from Ella Raphael; beautiful sunbeam tinged blues, reminiscent of Hope Sandoval at her hazy best; and Juanita Stein (formally of Howling Bells), with her nostalgia soaked, perfectly constructed Americana.
Ten years ago I experienced something of an epiphany at the opening day of Skipton’s much missed Beacons music festival. Whilst enjoying a beer in the Friday afternoon sunshine, the DJ in the bar suddenly played Grace Jones' signature track ‘Pull Up to the Bumper’, me quickly realising I’d obviously never listened to it properly and what a truly brilliant record it was. Jones’ quintessential deadpan Caribbean disco fused with New York arthouse punk funk propelled by the Sly & Robbie rhythm section to thrilling effect, arguably picking up where Jimi Hendrix ‘Crosstown Traffic’ left off.
Sounding like the members of Electric Light Orchestra were kidnapped, thrown into the back of a Citroen 2CV van, driven (slowly) to Paris before ram raiding the local branch of Tandy, French duo AIR’s timeless debut long player ‘Moon Safari’ is still arguably THE definitive Sunday morning album, effortlessly granting the listener a forty-odd minute intergalactic interlude away from their weekly grind.
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| Photo: Isaac Watson |
My only previous Key Club visit was a raucous Saturday afternoon IDLES appearance at a Live @ Leeds festival many moons ago that practically razed the place to the ground.
No pressure then for West Midland duo BIG SPECIAL whose razor-sharp kitchen-sink-full-of-Special-Brew single ‘Shithouse’’ first piqued my interest. With debut long player ‘Post Industrial Hometown Blues’ gleaming on the shelves and a 30-date sell out UK tour underway, things seem to be happening for Walsall based frontman Joe Hicklin and his batshit Brummie mate from college, drummer Callum Moloney.
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| Credit: Tom White |
London quintet Fat Dog have bemused and frustrated some dull press types because they can't be neatly popped into their tidy little boxes of shiny new bands. London quintet Fat Dog have outraged some fans of other bands when they supported certain acts on tour recently and basically blew their headliners off the stage. London quintet Fat Dog have been causing quite a bit of a stir it’s fair to say. Is it a serious jaunt into the world of rock and roll or are they just having a bit of a laugh (at our expense?). I don’t really know, and don’t really care. It’s an infectious racket and it needs to be heard.
Frank Turner is fresh-faced, fully charged and (importantly to the bigger picture) climbing on to Boom’s tiny stage on time as he prepares to play his third show already today, and its only 4pm. He’s attempting a world record for playing the most gigs in different cities in 24 hours to raise support and awareness of grassroots music venues. It’s a tall order which will take him from Liverpool to Southampton in a London e-taxi, a trip of roughly 500 miles, with a final show at noon tomorrow.
Chanteuses Melanie Pain and Phoebe Killdeer, rotating vocalists within surprisingly joyful French new wave covers band Nouvelle Vague, recently joined forces, the perfect vehicle to create some self-penned pop nuggets of their own within semi-eponymous side project Kill the Pain. Tonight sees the Gallic duo opening for their former bandmates at a packed Old Woollen, the first of eight dates together on these shores, Phoebe adorned in a striking tinsel wig (presumably replete with the appropriate fire certification beneath the hot stage lighting) as she emerges from the gloom
Continuing the trend of women taking over as the driving force in pop music, behold the sudden emergence of the inordinately talented Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson. CMAT (for short) is a sharp-witted flame haired Irish singer songwriter fast becoming one of the hottest live tickets in town. The Dubliner is behind a string of startlingly accomplished country-tinged pop singles including the beautifully expansive ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby!” and ‘Where Are Your Kids Tonight?” the latter featuring John Grant on backing vocals.
Fiercely DIY and independent driven, London duo Bob Vylan have chosen their own supports for this tour. (First on are fellow Londoners ‘Kid Bookie’ - seething metallers, champion swearers and besties with Slipknot’s Corey Taylor. Rap-rock and nu-metal will never totally be eradicated judging by this display. Cardiff’s ‘Panic Shack’ are the antidote. Four fifths female, an authentic punk snarl mixed with a keen sense of fun and most importantly, a breath of piss-taking fresh air on stage.
Bad-timing and life’s general shit-show threatens to stand between me and a date with Bristol’s Heavy Lungs at Hyde Park’s Book Club, but with minutes to spare we are united and the band are primed and ready. You’ll quite possibly know the name of their singer - Danny Nedelko, yes he of that IDLES song fame. But Heavy Lungs are so much more than that as tonight proves.
Joining the post-gig queue at the merch table, waiting for my turn to grab a minute with tonight’s headliner Anna Edhard, I listen in as the 6music Dads before me politely purchase their records and shirts and thank her for coming to Leeds.
Having experienced hundreds of live shows over the years, in all that time, I could probably count on one hand the number of occasions a band or performer failed to return stage front for an encore. That was until, the spiteful armoured bollock Covid wreaked its havoc, with every post pandemic gig I’ve attended since, suddenly bereft of an encore.
