Achtung Everybody! are finally back in action after a bloody long hiatus and it’s good to see them return. They did me the honour of playing at our pre-NYNS event at Santiagos and blew the face off most of us there (especially when Benny got down to his short shorts). It was also the first time a representative from all bands on the Achtung/Southport/Serf Combat/Offshore Radio split 7″ had been in the same room so I guess it was the nearest we’ll come to a launch (over a year later!). If you’re into technical fast punk then you could do a hell of a lot worse! So download their set here by right clicking and saving as or just click to stream.
Set List:
Infernal Affairs
Burn Your House Down A Peg Or Two
Dude We’re In Jail
Let’s Break The Paradigm
Then Fight! We Must!
The Dabrowski Brigade / Husker Don’t?
Shit Out Of Luck And This Is A Gambling Town
Broken Stars And Biomass
Identity Theft
Humanfly @ The Brudenell Social Club Leeds, 10.12.2010
The set here from Humanfly was from the same Damo Suzuki gig as mentioned below with That Fucking Tank so I won’t go into many details. Humanfly are one of those bands that I’ve been aware of for quite a few years, I picked up their first album around 2003 which was a good replication of Dillinger Escape Plan/Botch style technical metal. It was pretty good but didn’t really blow me away. Fast forward to about 2005 when I was up in Leeds on Heroic Doses’ first tour and we stopped off in Leeds, I saw Humanfly that night and was indeed blown away, they’d slowed down a ton and were much more in a Mastodon style of riff fueled rock. Fast forward once again to 2010 and the band have slowed down even more and added some sparse delayed vocals really showing a fantastic modern realisation of Black Sabbath (even down to the vocal pitch), their new album is a great representation of this so pick it up asap.
That Fucking Tank @ The Brudenell Social Club Leeds, 10.12.2010
I popped along to this gig not exactly knowing what was going on. Turns out it was That Fucking Tank and Humanfly playing sets of their own before teaming up for some improvising with Damo Suzuki. I didn’t know much about Damo Suzuki other than that he used to play in Can in the early 70′s. I sort of enjoyed his set for about 15 minutes in a sort of chilled out way that reminded me of some of the relaxation CD’s we use at work but I can’t say I’d be mega keen on listening to that for longer (but hey what do I know!) but it was good to try something new and I did enjoy a small dose of it.
Anyway back to the ‘Tank’s set. It was great to see them in their home town finally and as per usual they were awesome, I know they attract a more hip crowd but to me they’re basically two dudes playing classic rock rather than the Lightning Bolt tag that they draw. I genuinely think they should be playing metal festivals, they’re one of the few bands that the 12 year old me and the 29 year old me would agree on being awesome. Don’t just take my word for it, download their set from the night HERE.
The recording is also being used as part of Leeds’s Scene’s Advent Calender so check that out for some more seasonal treats.
Gruel, Jovian & State Icons @ The Cowley Club Brighton 14.08.10
Possibly the loudest gig I’ve been to since I saw Motorhead this was certainly a serious amount of noise for such a cosy venue. It was Gruel’s last ever gig so despite them being from 300 miles north of Brighton the Cowley was still pretty packed.
State Iconsopened and whilst, it was Gruel’s last gig, it was State Icon’s first and a pretty solid start it was! I must admit a slight bias towards this band as up until about 5 weeks ago I was playing bass for them but my imminent move north has meant that they’ve managed to upgrade! Made up of former members of Staathat, Rainydayfuckparade, Plague Sermon, Red Stars Parade, The Devils, Duckstab and a fair few other bands, the band certainly do have good pedigree. You never would have known it was their first gig as they came across tight, experienced and confident. Check out the video below for a flavour of the set then download the full set by right clicking and ‘saving as’ here
Jovian were next on the bill. Brighton’s best kept secret is the rest of the UK (and world’s!) loss. They’re booking a UK tour soon so get involved when they come to you as never has a band so well blended all out noise and doom with such catchy riffs. Members of Cat on Form and End The Agony certainly give you a vague point in the direction of their sound (well much more so with the End The Agony sound..!). Again have a gander at the video below then right click and save as here to download the full set
Gruelfinished off the night with what was their last ever gig. I wasn’t too familiar with the band beyond knowing that among mates into their psychedelic noise type music they were seen as top of the pile. I checked them out online before and enjoyed what sounded like quite pleasant riff fueled 60′s influenced doom but live it was another prospect entirely! Whilst the music was awesome (as you’ll be able to hear below) the visual spectacle took it to another level, for those of you who know the cafe/library/social space that is the Cowley (check out pic’s on their site if not) imagine the place plunged into darkness, filled with smoke and then a dude in a cowl with a scythe and covered in blood walking through and just screaming at everyone! Then spot lights shoot up from the floor and the band kicks in with weird images being projected on the back wall – awesome right! Below is a short clip just to give you a tiny impression of the fun that was had. Just gutted I won’t see them again. Right click here and ‘save as’ to download the full set for your listening pleasure!
