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HV’s coverage of Dot To Dot’s first foray into Manchester, following four years in Nottingham and Bristol, gets underway at Deaf Institute.
Dandy transatlantic three-piece Lunar Youth are kicking about onstage and could be set to infiltrate our national radio. We say could be, we actually mean we hope not. Since the retirement of Savage Garden (or have they just disappeared?) there is a prime slot where Lunar Youth could croon to a their “venus in blue jeans, never square, always chic, sprinkles glitter out on the streets” and raise hairs on backs rather than raise bile in mouths. If we could only stop singer Simon, one half of the New York brothers, opening his dribbly bag of cringe we’d be able to bear a little more of their 80’s stadium sliding, or sinking or whatever it is they’re doing.
The Heartbreaks make more of an impact down in Club Academy with their brand of heavily referential-cum-modern indie. Shades of Edwyn Collins’ vocal style wrapping around unusual flights of melody set the Heartbreaks above many of their fledgling peers, more of these moments and a bit less of the standard indie fare would have been welcome. Let’s not forget its only 1.30pm.
Fellow Mancs the Answering Machine came under fire for their show back in January, mainly due to school disco feel of Jabez Clegg. The nuts and bolts pop of ‘Oklahoma’ are still evident, yet newer tracks just don’t quite reach these highs. ‘Obviously Cold’ a nicely placed successor isn’t far from joyous beginnings, but it’s almost as if the massive grins of Manchester’s baby faced darlings has died and been replaced with a frown. Still they look great, Martin especially handles the stage like a seasoned pro, the perfect combination of aggression and attitude without the appearance of arrogance. Creatively though, tonight they just feel like they’re treading water.
Small Black from Brooklyn, hot-bed of what seems to be all US based expermentalists are less committable live than on record. The subtleties of their MBV leanings gets lost amongst attempts to (maybe) make their songs more engaging to the live audience. The result is a band and a performance that lacks the integrity and interest of their records. How much of this is down to the poor mix, or, more importantly, very loud mix, is hard to tell, but tracks like ‘Bad Lover’ are lost in a droney haze.
White Hinterland are an interesting proposition. Female vocalist Casey Dienel has undergone an interesting and rapid transformation of late, progressing from a kooky songstress in the vein of Regina Spector to one half of a curious duo which now combines her hitherto incarnation with a heavy, almost experimental electronic element. “Close your eyes and pretend that it's the start of the bank holiday (not much of a departure bearing in mind it essentially was). Now we’re ready”, chirped Dienel as she gleefully plucked away on a miniature classical guitar whilst Shawn Creeden provided bone shaking bass tones through his synths and sequencers. Challenging, yet producing glorious moments of clarity, comparisons to the likes of Dirty Projectors aren’t too far off the mark.
Next it was a journey to the top floor of the building where a gathered throng was awaiting a now late The Cheek. Frankly part of me (a large part) wishes they hadn’t bothered turning up at all, and after being subjected to half an hour of largely formulaic indie rock, the kind of thing you would imagine the cast of Skins performing – although they might be a bit less smug about it, i had subconsciously pushed my earplugs to an almost irretrievable depth. Granted, they had their moments, when they let the annoyingly shrill and busy vocalist have a rest and let the music take centre stage, some nice songs emerged, but for the most part they were hard work.
Back down to the basement where the obviously 80’s inspired Chapel Club were in full swing, performing their dark and sombre music at a melodic yet unfortunately cumbersome pace. There were a few stand-out moments, but they were few and far between. A succession of negative thoughts towards today’s acts is now beginning to take its toll on my conscience, but whilst Chapel Club possessed a level sincerity missing in other acts it was all a tad dull.
Thankfully Field Music can always be relied upon to reinstate my faith in music, humanity and life in general/ Field Music have always been a substance over style band, and their studious performance of material from old (‘You’re Not Supposed To’) to new (‘Them That Do Nothing’) really hit the spot. The brothers Brewis are now old pros at this game, and each song was delivered with the air of confidence of a band that are on top of their game. A cracking lo-fi no frills performance.
It’s been a torturous path for Blood Red Shoes, but with major radio and label backing for single ‘Dont Ask’ their star is finally ascending. Having only played Manchester a few weeks earlier BRS are even able to pick out attendees from the crowd by eye, a talent usually only reserved for DIY bands with one fan; which is not the case tonight. The academy is awash with heaving teens baying for whatever BRS throw at them, be it their pop-punk tunes or a glance from our guitar’d heroine. They’re by no means a revelation but BRS are engaging in their apparent realness. Playing at punk is a difficult pull-off for a lady, at one end you have the lewd hedonistic dive into bassness practised by Juliette Lewis, Courtney Love et al, at the other the demure aloof favoured by artists such as Kim Deal or Auf Der Maur, Carter comes thankfully towards the latter end of the scale without a hint of theatre. ‘Light it Up’ is without doubt the fire that ignites the pants of the Academy.
Liars have always been a somewhat difficult proposition, forgoing any form of consistency in their output in favour of pushing their own boundaries. They haven’t always managed to get it right, yet their performance today justified their legions of committed followers’ affections, including a humorously animated Marc Riley. New material from Sisterworld was well received, and a thoroughly energetic performance from Angus Andrew more than did enough to compensate for the weaker moments in their set.
Wild Beasts were one of the biggest disappointments for me, producing a lacklustre performance that never really got off the ground. Opener the fun powder plot was delivered at half pace, which took away some of its life, and despite other gems from Two Dancers shining, it was a below par show from a band of which I expected more.
On the other hand Beach House (pictured) were a delight, in an absolutely packed out club academy, performing amongst giant sparkling lamp shades, the Baltimore outfit produced a magical performance which predominantly included the finest moments from the excellent Teen Dream. Victoria Legrand (possessing the best head of hair in the music biz) and Alex Scally delivered each song perfectly, and despite being at the back and having a view partially obstructed by a mixture of giants and pillars, it was a fantastic performance from a band that are shaping up to be very special indeed. Band of the day for me without question.
Over at Academy 3 Eighties Matchbox 80s B-Line Disaster are simply incredible. Watching their highly unusual faces contort under the mental strain (why is anyone’s guess, the music? the drugs?) is more entertaining than most bands on today’s bill. That coupled with their psychobilly rock makes for an awesome assault on the senses. Their brief furore into chart territory that was ‘Mister Mental’ is sideswiped early for the band to deliver the bulk of their new output. No problem, for us that is, but Guy is obviously disturbed by the sound. Not happy with the fold backs he stamps whilst repeatedly holding his ears, signifying tonight’s performance might be slightly hindered. By the time we’re treated to ‘Celebrate Your Mother’ the kingpin of all inappropriate songs we’re all as deaf and stupefied as the band.
There was a general flagging feeling in the air by the time Mystery Jets strode on stage, with the Academy 2 noticeably less populated than earlier in the day. However, the band did their best to make everyone forget that it was back to work in the morning with a set list comprising roughly half and half old and as yet unreleased new material. The tracks from the forthcoming Serotonin LP were all typically strong, possessing the pop sensibilities with an edge with which the band have become synonymous in recent years. Lead single ‘Dreaming of Another World’ and ‘The Girl is Gone’ were well received, but it was the ‘golden oldies’ like ‘Half in Love with Elizabeth’ and the quite beautiful ‘Flakes’ which really captured the imagination and momentarily distracted the mind from now aching feet. A solid, if unspectacular, end to the day. TAGS: Beach House, Liars, Wild Beasts, Mystery Jets, Answering Machine, The Heartbreaks, Small Black, Chapel Club, Blood Red Shoes Words by: Daniel Pratley and Gareth Roberts |
