1,216 OCTOBER DRIFT, Foam Heads, Oxford Jericho Tavern, Wednesday 23rd March 2022

 

Another trip down Nostalgia Avenue tonight, venue-wise at least; back to The Jericho Tavern in Oxford, scene of many 80’s/ 90’s gig nights for the likes of Pulp, A House, The Heart Throbs, Midway Still and my then-faves The Parachute Men, whom I saw 4 times in that scuzzy and sweaty upstairs room. And tonight has the potential of another rousing and memorable Jericho evening; mine hosts are October Drift, the young band who impressed me so much when I saw them, virtually previously unheard, in January 2020 at Rough Trade (gig 1,172) that I gratuitously bandied around phrases like, “most exciting prospect since Desperate Journalist”! Their debut CD, which I picked up that night, partly delivered on that promise with a melting pot of thrilling post-punk, heavy grungy riffery and more textured shoegaze, a slight lack of consistency of material seeing it just miss out on my 2020 Top 10 (in an admittedly high-quality year for albums!), but the dark, haunting stomp of “Cherry Red” comfortably making it onto my “Best of 2020” CD compilation. A couple of years on, then, it’s time to revisit this promising band to see where they are now…

 Set off at 6.15 then pretty much immediately realised why I don’t go gigging in nearby Oxford as much as its’ proximity would dictate; got stuck behind a lorry on the Oxford Road for ages, making the drive into the city interminable and irritating! Parked up easily, down the road from the old Tavern, and popped into the old upstairs venue; first in, and only one in for a good while too! A smattering of early comers had joined us for openers Foam Heads, on at 8. A 3-piece of indeterminate vintage (probably closer in age to me than to the headliners!) and a local last minute replacement for the Covid-affected tour support China Bears, their second number “Drowning In My Room” had post-punk shades of U2/Bunnymen and featured a Cure “A Forest”-esque underlying bass, and “Rain”, next up, was a valiant attempt at a hookier harmonic chorus, the shame being that the singer’s voice was somewhat lost in the mix. Whilst much of the set was more workmanlike fayre, they finished an overall decent set strongly with the 60’s spy movie backbeat of “Way Of The World”, also featuring some shimmering guitar licks. Not original, but fairly enjoyable overall.

 Took a step forward as OD guitarist Daniel Young finished soundchecking, and got chatting to a nice lady down the front, who was honouring her recent late husband’s memory by continuing to go gigging, a thing they both enjoyed. Good on you, my dear! October Drift joined us slightly late at 9.10, squeezed onto the tiny stage and charged into a cacophonous squalling noisefest intro to the powerful, fist-pumping anthem “Losing My Touch”, vocalist Kiran Roy’s deep, sonorous vocals as much a feature as his all-action style, ducking and diving onstage as if avoiding machine-gun fire. Stunning opener, but amazingly, it got better with the bass-led thrill ride of “Cherry Red”, Roy sawing at his high-slung guitar for all he was worth, flanked by his kinetic guitar partners and backed up by drummer Chris Holmes pounding seven hells out of his kit and pulling faces in the process. An amazing visual spectacle, an astonishing and almost palpable wall of sound!

 

It soon became obvious to me that October Drift are clearly one of those bands who take on an extra dimension “live”, coming alive onstage as the full-on rabid rock beasts they truly are… “Don’t Give Me Hope” came in all stately and elegiac before building to another cacophonous crescendo, Roy eschewing his stage spot and hiking through the audience (about half full tonight – come on Oxford, what are you playing at?), and “Oh The Silence” featured a powerful military beat reminiscent of Boston’s Taxpayer, with some squalling Pale Saints-like guitar for good measure. Newie “Insects” is evidently their Pixies number, a creepy bass intro surreptitiously building to a proto grunge choral howl, with “Come And Find Me” a rampant beast with a metronomic “French Disko” style beat powering it along. Impressive stuff.

 

All too soon a remarkable swift and sweaty hour was over – I’d been giving it as much as my knees allowed down the front, and was dripping sweat at this time – and Roy thanked us profusely before he and drummer Holmes took the floor (Holmes warning us, “shit’s about to get real”) and played an almost acapella final number, the touching and tender “The Past”, in the round, before heading directly to the merch stand to chat with fans and friends. I grabbed a setlist and joined in the chat – not only do we have a band who, like the likes of Seafood, American Hi-Fi, Midway Still et al, truly elevate themselves in the “live” environment, but also know their rock history and seem to have a real rapport with their fans. A better “economy drive” run home and back just after 11, after, as promised, another rousing and memorable Jericho evening!