This
one feels like a new discovery of a veteran act… I’d been mightily impressed by
Isle Of Wight newcomers Coach Party and their spritely, slightly bratty take on
indie pop, and was on the lookout for gigs down our way – The Louisiana in
January was one (sadly postponed from an earlier tour, in conjunction with
equally promising newcomers Francis Of Delirium), but an earlier opportunity
presented itself when they were named as tour support for veteran NYC indie
rabble We Are Scientists, a tour including a date at evocative old Bristol
former church The Trinity. I’d picked up their debut “With Love And Squalor”
back in 2006, liking it fine but finding it slightly formulaic of the staccato
one-note school of “post-punk” back then (Bloc Party, Futureheads et al),
subsequently blanking on future releases. However, a quick YouTube trawl
revealed the error of my ways, 2021 album “Huffy” (their 7th!)
in particular leaping out of the blocks with some sparkling hooky powerpop. Hmmm,
some lost time to catch up with this band then, methinks…
Tix
were duly booked for myself, and, later, for Logan, who enjoyed “Huffy” too. So
we took a drive down a blustery M4, hitting traffic going into Brizzle, but
parking up securely in Cabot and hitting the venue in good time for Logan to
grab his usual spot – leaning on the stage (no barriers), front and centre! Introduced
him to a proper Bristol gig rite of passage – meeting Big Jeff (!) – before
Coach Party joined us at 8, bursting out of the blocks with the effervescent
yell of “Oh Lola” and the deadpan chugalong riffery of “Everybody Hates Me”,
both recalling the flippant 90’s Britpop of early Sleeper… A pretty obvious
comparison for this young band, maybe, but, first, if I hear clip-clops, I’m
yelling “horse”, and second, that’s no bad thing, as Sleeper in their early
pomp were a cracking band… Anyway, back to Coach Party… “no word of a lie, We
Are Scientists are the funniest people we’ve ever met!” gushed vocalist Jess effusively
before the Pixies-ish growl of their “bad break up song” “Crying Makes Me
Tired”, and an abortive attempt to engage the kids down the front in their Tik
Tok video! “Breakdown” featured a splendid if truncated mid-song noise-fest,
Jess kneeling in a very David Line style, before some punters complimented her
on her trousers! Her reply was, “it’s my ass,” then some wag down the front
(ok, me…) remarked, “that’s the Isle Of Wight’s ass!”, Jess thankfully getting
the Captain America reference! A bright, sparkling set concluded with the
double whammy of a punky, in-your-face “Feels Like A Girl” and set highlight,
the propulsive undulating riff of “Can’t Talk, Won’t”. Excellent set, and now
I’m really looking forward to that January Louisiana date…!
The
place, quiet early doors, filled up properly as Logan asked the friendly roadie
(more on him later) how much he earned! In short order, the walk-on music of
Aerosmith’s cheesy power ballad “Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” kicked in, the
3-piece We Are Scientists conducting the audience singalong before launching
into breathless opener “You’ve Lost Your Shit” (which variously recalls The
Wannadies “Hit” and Kim Wilde’s “Kids In America”!), which segued into oldie
“Inaction”. The modus operandi for this gig was pretty soon established;
dynamic slabs of laconic but upbeat NYC cool indie powerpop with, yes, that
post-millennial taut post-punk staccato riffery, but with repetitive hooks
aplenty for this engaged crowd to sing along to raucously. As a newbie, I did
my best, but this was one for the devoted, some “deep cuts” (vocalist Keith
announcing at one point, “know your deep cuts or you’re gonna get cut!”)
delighting the faithful. And vocalist/guitarist Keith was a dynamic stage
presence; energetic, kinetic, double denimed and constantly on his toes, he and
bassist Chris shared a considerable amount of sardonic, savage and
self-deprecating between song banter (“I wrote this song (“Kit”) about my cat
but he won’t reciprocate [my feelings]”; “your cat just looks at you as a heat
source!” being one, and “your tuning up sounds like a ukulele!” another). The
brilliant helium chorus of “Contact High” and subsequent backbeat big hook of
“It’s A Hit” were early highlights, and I liked the pregnant pause during the itchy,
angular and Devo-esque “I Cut My Own Hair”, the crowd nonetheless filling in
the hook line. Some problems with pushy fellow punters distracted me mid-set,
but the louche, almost funky “Sentimental Education” brought me back into the
room, the band then finishing strongly with more fun banter and an almost
hauntingly emo-esque “After Hours”, after a slight mid-set sag.
A
four song encore concluded an at-times excellent but always intriguing and
entertaining 1 hour 20 minute set, before we obtained the drummer’s list thanks
to that friendly roadie, hit the merch stand for some chat with Coach Party
drummer Guy and a tee for Logan, then back to the ‘don by 11.30 in drizzle.
I’ve clearly got some work to do on We Are Scientists, but they did more than
enough tonight to dispel my dismissive first impressions. As for Coach Party,
that Louie gig will be a proper firecracker, no doubt…!
No comments:
Post a Comment