First gig at The Doghouse since it re-opened following its brief closure, and it was good to be back inside the place - felt like home -lol. Quite appropriate that it should also be for Dave? too, since it was that band which turned out to be the last gig I reviewed before the place went into hibernation.
The evening started out with a band called Black Alley Screens and coz they'd started at 8.30pm, I'd misssed most of the set, but I caught the last two numbers and they sounded just fantastic, so I really do have to check this band out soon.
So, things fell to The Scalies, a band I've managed to miss out on seeing somehow, so far. Now, don't ask me why, but throughout the set the comparison of the band with a cross between "The Jam and Big Country with the force of a jet fighter" kept popping up in my head. They managed to mix wickedly chunky bass lines with this cruising high-pitched lead guitar over a wall of storming rhythm guitar, as the drums hammered down in all sorts of paces and the singer powered out the songs. The songs themselves weren't overly memorable although the energy and enthusiasm they projected - even if the band resolutely failed to crack a smile on the stage - really carried it all headlong, and you, the listener, with it. Variation throughout the set was apparent and welcome, although even the song that was introduced as "a love song" ended up as a hi-octanhe blast of anthemic rifferama. Much of it was the sort of thing you could imagine accompanying small armies as they strode across the wilderness bearing down upon hapless villagers. A strong band, for sure, with promise, but needs more if it's to break out.
It's a total reviewer's cop-out to call Dave? an "alternative" band, but when you consider that for this band, you have to dismiss any other comparisons, this is all you're left with. You can't even say what they're an alternative to!!! All you can say is that this is one helluva band. Right from the start, you know you're in an altogether different indie dimension as this squall of guitar rises up over rock solid bass and the drummer is not only hitting the kit with ferocity but using every part of the kit he can find and providing jaw-dropping rhythms that a free jazz drummer would be in awe of hearing. All this set to an incendiary song with no discenible verse, let along chorus, as Daniel's vocals are intoned with suitable passion. The whole thing is just amazing, and that's only the first song. Two similar songs follow on as the band just take off. Thn they did "What's His Excuse" and promptly fired that one into orbit as they made the recorded version sound like a walk in the park, managing to unleash this ferocity of guitar firepower, bass thunder and drumming that takes your breath away, as the sneering vocals hold you spellbound through the glorious nuclear blast that's being unleashed on your ears. "This Is Not A Love Song" most certainly wasn't as the trio played it with searing heat and energetic passion, injecting red hot guitar riffs and scorching leads into a strident sea of dramatic drumming and driving bass undercurrents, this time Daniel's vocal a positively hypnotic Bob Dylan-esque mix of languidity and passion, the band exploding into life at every available opportunity. A song introduced as "the second single" proved that this band's idea of what constitutes a single is as far removed from what a record label would think of one as I am from becoming Pope!! The band let loose this awesome whirlwind of guitars, bass and drums as you jusdt stood there and took it all in. After another track that was as close as they'd got to sounding "commercial", they did "That Spark" which will be the next single and, although hardly waht you'd call a top 5 hit, it's the closest they get to indie-pop as the song flares through at a fast pace, with a wild riff hanging around in your head as the rhythm section launches into space once more, Daniel's vocals intoning and soaring to almost lazily uncaring dgeree, and the effect is just sensational.
This band is a positve breath of fresh air on the modern indie scene - they break all the rules of musical physics and produce songs and playing that are thoroughly and enjoyably unique, the sound of Dylan singing in a musical nuclear holocaust, and it's absolutely addictive. Support this band - you won't regret it.
A hapless bunch of Irish lads called General Fiasco headlined, after Dave?, but there was no point - there was no way anyone was going to get my undivided attention after the Dave? set - so I had to leave...... another time, chaps!!