1,228 ABSTRACTION ENGINE, David Lynch, Swindon The Castle, Friday 20th May 2022

 

A local Friday night up the hill… again! Continuing my May itinerary of relatively small gigs, here’s one at The Castle, scene of riotous Christmas Eve drinkies and games of killer pool in my wayward youth, and more recently scene of numerous (and equally riotous) Raze*Rebuild sweatathons. This time, however, Abstraction Engine are the hosts, therefore promising something a little more cerebral and thoughtful, given their chameleonic and wide-reaching alt-indie approach to music-making. Either way, I’m getting more on board with these splendid bunch of local gig veterans, so I’m up for it!

 So, a drive up the hill, an easy slot in my new (free!) old town parking spot and a wander through an eerily deserted old town saw me pitch up at an equally quiet Castle about 8.30, meeting up with the AE boys and enjoying some lengthy rock chats, in particular with bassist Gareth about shoegaze veterans Ride! Grabbed a seat in the back room and had some banter with landlord and old friend Kev Fitzgerald before opener David Lynch plugged in his acoustic guitar and kicked off his set. Another scene veteran, this was apparently David’s first gig for 7 years (“[my] last one was here with The Shudders!”), but he showed little evidence of ring rust, with a fine, Americana tinged opener. Gareth subsequently reckoned David’s set was “Weller-esque”; I’m not on particularly familiar terms with The Modfather’s solo output, but other numbers had touches of Beatles-esque britpop, his second number ripping off Mark Morriss of The Bluetones, apparently (!), and “The Man On The Clapham Omnibus” was Kinks-esque both in terms of London-centric subject matter and knockabout melody, so we were both on the same chapter, if not the same page... My favourite, “Beautiful Day” had an element of Buffalo Tom’s slower descending acoustic riffery, having also apparently gained BT fan Richard Skidmore’s seal of approval! A relaxed and urbane set concluded with David well and truly skewering the Welller comparisons with a tense reading of The Jam’s “Down In The Tube Station At Midnight”, segued in with The Housemartins’ “Happy Hour” to at least end on an upbeat note!

 A few technical issues with their banks of keyboards (“we are Spinal Tap!” quipped vocalist David) delayed Abstraction Engine’s start, but they kicked off at 10 in front of a very quiet Castle back room (me, David plus two or three curious locals – damn shame really!) with the synth-led 80’s-tinged Talk Talk-isms of “Talk In Your Sleep”. Again darting from indie-genre to indie-genre, “Crossfire” was tougher and almost echoey pseudo Goth, and “Placeholder” a jangly Wheat-esque intro morphing into a ragged punk rock noisefest! A later “Forever” was a gauche little C86 ramble-athon with a Smiths lyrical homage (“save your life – because you’ve only got one…” and, following a plug for the new CD EP (“don’t forget to mention [it], available through all good outlets – and Tom’s backpack!”) they built up to a strong finish with a fine sounding, post-punk “Dreamer” and the absorbing, slow-burn Wheat alt-college rock dreampop of “Shiine”.

 But then there were the covers… In anticipation for their appearance at Lechlade Festival next weekend, they’d thrown a couple of non-originals into the set, to road test them for a Festival crowd unfamiliar with their own material. Fair enough, really… An earlier, understated run through of Wings’ “Silly Love Songs” wasn’t really to my taste but was OK really, I guess; however they then finished with a straight cover of Spandau Ballet’s appalling 80’s cheesefest ballad “True”. Yuck! Still, it got a couple of locals up and swaying along, and hopefully it’ll serve its’ purpose as a competitor to Alexandra Burke – me, I’ll just remember “Dreamer” and “Shiine” from this set, and pretend it didn’t happen…!

 A bit more banter and piss-taking with the boys afterwards, before I wandered back through a still-relatively deserted old town to the motor. Another enjoyable set of intriguing indie from this lot – shame so few were there to see it… and shame about those covers. Hopefully they’ll go down well at Lechlade, so my “pain” won’t have been in vain…!!

1,227 BULL, Supp. Feet, Oxford O2 Academy 2, Wednesday 18th May 2022

 

“The type of music I can never have too many bands playing for me,” was how I described the irresistibly melodic and 3-part harmonic powerpop of The Stayawakes in advance of their Fareham gig earlier this month (gig. 1,224), so no surprise then that I’ve latched on to another such band… jangly York combo Bull came to my attention during 2020’s initial lockdown, following up some intriguing singles in 2021 with a subtle grower of a debut album in “Discover Effortless Living”. Replete with easy Summery melody and understated, laid-back quirky charm, this feels what “Songs From Northern Britain”/ “Howdy”-era Teenage Fanclub would sound like, had they been obsessed with Jonathan Richman rather than Big Star, and the surreptitious growing crescendos of my favourite track “Find Myself A Job” was a shoe-in on my “Best Of 2021” compo CD. I’d actually booked to see them at the Louisiana on their Autumn 2021 jaunt around these Isles, but a positive Covid test put paid to that gig (and others besides). Bollocks! Nonetheless, a support slot with Indie/ Britpop types Feet gave me an early chance to quickly right that wrong…!

 This one was also shunted into May thanks to the bug, and with doors at 6.30 and all indications pointing to Bull being first on of 3, I decided a prompt departure was on the cards. Feet fan Andy Fenton and his partner Mandie joined us, so I picked them up at an unseasonably early 5.30, enduring hellish traffic just to get out of Swindon onto the Oxford road, thence parking up in a “secret” side street known to Andy about 10 minutes hike from the venue (parking getting even worse along the Cowley Road with the Tesco car park either shut or shrunk, not sure either way but not worth the risk!). So we hit the venerable old Zodiac room at 10 to 7, only to find just 2 bands on the itinerary, Lime Garden having disappeared from view for reasons unknown…

 No matter, we took a seat (!) along the side and I joined the small throng down the front for Bull’s entrance prompt at 7.30. Led on by vocalist Tom Beer who prepared by constructing a black plastic trombone (!), this quirky-looking 5-piece (long-haired guitarist Dan Lucas and Americana-attired bassist Kai West flanking Tom, who initially sported a woolly bucket hat to cover his alopecia but, sweating admirably throughout the gig, discarded it midway through because who the fuck cares, right? Right!) initially conformed to expectations, with “Bonzo Please” a Summery hazy vibe, “Shiny Bowl” faster but still melodically hooky and “Bedroom Floor”, very Fanclub-esque. However, Bull soon showed that there are other moving parts to their sound; newie “Head Exploder” was a more robust powerpop beast with US alt-grungy slashing riffery, “Magazine” a melancholy wallow with keyboard embellishments from Tom and a repeated vocal looped outro of “Tonight’s The Night” (closet Neil Young fans as well, maybe?), and a later newie, “Tired Of Being Treated Like A Twit”, featured an almost Chic-like funk bass and 100-mph tumbling scat vocals from Tom. Different elements serving both to confound and augment their intriguing musical melting pot.

 Chatty types too – after earlier complimenting Oxford and comparing it to their hometown of York (both flat and good for cycling!), Tom asked if anyone owned the album, some wag down the front (ok, me…), piping up with the title of their favourite track. “We’ve got a request here!” replied Tom, complimenting my Modern Lovers tee before leading the band into a tough, building version of “Find Myself A Job”. Nice! So, that was my set highlight right there, the lush harmonies of a later “Green” running it close before Tom thanked the venue for allowing them to run over time (got to fit the request in, see…!), the funky, laconic 70’s NYC cool of closer “Stuck” recalling Mink DeVille and rounding off a fine set, partly as expected/ hoped, but with a few curveballs thrown in!

 Grabbed a merch-stand chat with Kai and, later, Tom about Boston (they’ve played at the Middle East!) and their coherent yet scattergun approach to songwriting, before they needed to load up. By then Feet were on, so with the boys’ recommendations ringing in my ears (“they’re like the Ramones!”) I checked them out. They’d developed some since the haphazard Britpoppy mishmash I saw supporting Honeyblood in 2019 (gig 1,137), some fast-paced and ranty early rockers underlining that Brudders comparison, and later tracks (particularly “Library”) possessing the languid street-cool and droney guitar of Lou Reed’s work, both with the Velvets and solo. However one later number (about going out in Portsmouth, apparently) veered unfortunately towards baggy Mondays territory and appropriated the hook from old soul staple “Lady Marmalade”, and another, earlier number was just a mess. Still, their painfully young fans in this probably 1/3 full venue bounced lustily throughout, so what the fuck do I know, eh?

 Also, oddly enough, prompt at 9.30, Feet’s tall, angular vocalist George Haverson called an end to proceedings from his spot in the photo pit, urging the faithful to go buy lots of merch so they could make the next gig! No encore, a 45 minute headline set barely longer than their support – weird! So an early departure for an equally difficult drive home, with sheet lightning leading to almost Biblical torrential rain and huge ford-like puddles forcing me to slow to a crawl so as not to aquaplane into oncoming traffic (did that before on the old Oxford road – Ultravox, 1986, gig 62 – not a fan of it!). Yikes! Again, no matter, well worth it for a fine set from a very promising and surprisingly varied band in Bull!

1,226 WYLDEST, Stay Lunar, Swindon The Tuppenny, Thursday 12th May 2022

 

I didn’t really expect to leave this Wyldest gig with a Gaz Brookfield song blaring in my head, but you’ll probably see why… 

I usually seem to save my excursions “Up The Tupp” for some acoustic folky punky or Americana-tinged stuff and nonsense (or, in the regular case of Si Hall, both), but tonight promised something different; a set of wistful and ethereal dreampop from Wyldest, pseudonym for talented Swindon native Zoe Mead, whom I’ve seen in a couple of times in Shuffle scenarios or 12 Bands of Xmas showcases, but never as a gig headliner in her/their own right. Time to put that right, then!

 So, after helping the youngest with maths homework, I trundled up the hill, parking in my recently discovered free spot (hooray!) and hitting the Tupp just after 8 for a chat with those splendid fellows and local gig impresarios Ed Dyer and Dave Franklin. In fact, I got so absorbed in a conversation with Dave about 80s/90s bands that had passed us by, that I didn’t notice how busy the pub had gotten in advance of proceedings. So much so, in fact, that when Ed introduced support Stay Lunar (or at least, 2 fifths of them, namely vocalist Harry and guitarist George), we were relegated to a spot right at the back (far from my usual preferred front row spot in this tight little pub venue), unfortunately right in the midst of general bar chat and hubbub. I gave it a couple of numbers then wormed my way back to a spot right by the side of the window stage by the front door, which was initially better, then worse, so I hit the back again, trying my best to squeeze forward to hear. A shame, as the boys were on good form; an early newie “I Like It When You’re Around” had a pastoral, hazy C86/ Sundays vibe, “Keeping Me Up All Night” was a bouncier and optimistic strumalong recalling the likes of The Hit Parade, and both Ed and I liked another newie, “Oscillation” featuring lots of -ation rhyming which reminded me of Orange Juice’s similar “What Presence?” Closer “Dancing” was a pretty and resonant number with nice embellishments from George, far from the acoustic disaster a voluble Harry had hinted at earlier. Overall a fine, understated start, from what I was able to hear…

 Luckily (or so I thought) and thanks to Linda, I managed to secure a 2^nd row seat in advance of Wyldest’s set, chatting to Jo, a fellow punter and Oxford gig promoter, and anticipating actually hearing Wyldest’s set. Wrong! The place (for the Tuppenny at least) was rammed, and after Ed introduced the 4 piece Wyldest onstage, a group of young folks (clearly irregular gig-goers at best) standing to my immediate left decided to have a booming conversation about their social media accounts. Again, I gave it a couple of numbers, then “respectfully” informed them that the partitioned bar was the place for such conversations, not right at the front of the gig; being challenged with, “what? Can you hear me then mate?” by one of these ignoramuses (ignorami?), my reply was, “mate, you’re ALL I can hear!” This seemed to quiet them down awhile, but taking a hint was obviously not one of their collective strong points, but by now (and with the help of a louder than expected band) I’d at least managed to zone them out a little more. I found out later that said bunch were “friends” of Zoe; all I can say is, with friends like that at your gig, who the fuck needs enemies!

 

A shame again, as Wyldest were also in fine fettle, and much more robust and dynamic than their lovely yet understated and gossamer CD “Dream Chaos” would suggest. Following a false start due to an unplugged pedal, opener “Hollow” was bright, buoyant and Belly-esque, with Zoe’s Tanya Donelly-esque vocal inflections and impressive guitarist Marine’s resonant fretwork a feature, setting the tone for the set. “Beggar” was even (dare I say it) rockier, and “Seastroke” was my set highlight, a slow build with Zoe’s yearning vocal fills leading the song into an absorbing crescendo. “Good to be able to embrace the West Country accent again!” remarked London-domiciled Zoe, introducing a newie “Winter Limbs” which seemed to collapse into itself at the end; then “Monthly Friend” (“[from my] concept album about periods!”) was a more delicate, fragile number, more similar to their dreamy CD. “The Best Is Yet To Come” kicked in as a stately 70’s ballad before some distinctly echoey electronic beats led into a naggingly familiar hook, before Ed tried to get Zoe’s parents to choose an encore, the band repeating an earlier number to conclude a fine set.

 A nice chat with Zoe afterwards about her band, the Bunnymen (my t-shirt, her previous cover of “Killing Moon”) and Belly, plus a signed list, then farewells to friends old and new before I took a stroll back to the motor, still slightly steaming and with the words of Gaz Brookfield’s “I’ve Paid My Money” ringing in my ears. “Have some respect for those around you, and try not to be a dick”, indeed. Nonetheless, it won’t put me off going to see this absorbing band Wyldest again, but next time I would hope to hear them too…!

1,225 COACH PARTY, Sometimes, Bristol Louisiana, Monday 9th May 2022

 

“As for Coach Party, that Louie gig will be a proper firecracker, no doubt…!”

 Those were my words after seeing Coach Party tear it up at the Trinity last December, in support of We Are Scientists (gig 1,203), as I was eagerly anticipating their long sold-out Louisiana headlining show, then scheduled for the following month… however, Covid precautions then caused the postponement of this highly promising young Isle of Wight combo’s January dates until now. In the interim, they’d released a new EP “Nothing Is Real”, another collection of spritely and snarky indiepop tunes showcasing devastating single “FLAG (Feel Like A Girl)”, and kept their hand in “live” with some dates with the equally promising Mysterines (one of which, the Electric Ballroom date, I was jonesing to go to, but it sold out! Bugger!). Anyhoo, time eventually rolled round for this one; hopefully we’ll still get the anticipated fireworks…!

 I had some company for this trip in old friend Paul, who’d joined us for a gig as recently as last September (that triumphant Heaven 17 Roundhouse gig, no. 1,189) but with whom this would represent the first gig just the 2 of us had been to together since June 1999 (The Dickies, gig no. 407)! His first time at the Louisiana as well, so after arriving promptly at 7.30 and finding all street parking now double yellows, so dumping the motor in the new car park opposite the venue, I introduced him to a Louie – and Bristol – tradition, namely meeting Big Jeff! Had a drink and a chat, then the rope was removed so we wandered upstairs to the venue (Paul remarking it might just be the smallest venue he’d ever been to!), joining the hardy batch of early comers for openers Sometimes at 8.15. Friends of the headliners (one of their number directing Coach Party’s videos, apparently), this was apparently their first ever gig, but they kicked into a distinctly Dinosaur Jr.-esque riff-heavy laze rock opener displaying few first-night nerves. “I Was The Fire”, next up, was a slower-burn beast with an insistent hook, and following some debate led by the vocalist about how brilliant Bristol is, other numbers displayed some very grungy quiet/loud dynamics, with the vocalist’s high, angsty yelps a feature. Rooted in that early 90’s era sonically, maybe, but Sometimes (or “Someone”, as the running order on the bottom of the stairs referred to them; “that’s our pseudonym!” quipped the vocalist!) nonetheless showed some promise and a degree of musicianship that belied their relative experience.

 Took a breather downstairs before hopping back up into the by-now packed room, finding a viewing spot centre stage a few rows back; thankfully Jeff was to one side so wasn’t in our way! Coach Party took the stage promptly at 9.15 and in short order ripped into punky, savage opener “Lola”. No messing about then!

 

My “Cliff Notes” version of Coach Party increasingly reads, “what Sleeper, Pixies and Interpol would sound like if they got together and wrote songs to purge their bad relationships”. Even the song titles underline this; “Crying Makes Me Tired”, “Everybody Hates Me”, “I’m Sad”, “Breakdown”, and so on… hopefully vocalist Jess and co will find fulfilment in their lives before too long (!!), but in the meantime they’ll have to rely on the adulation of their audience, which on tonight’s evidence should be more than enough. The place went bonkers from note one, and pretty soon I found myself in a mini-moshpit, bouncing off a hefty bearded bloke but finding an occasional pocket of space which was also, thankfully, under a ceiling-mounted cold air blower! A buoyant Jess thanked everyone, “who’s had a ticket [for this gig] for so long!” before the sinister Pixies growl of “Crying”, then told the story of the girls complimenting her trousers at that We Are Scientists gig, thankfully stopping short before my involvement…! “I’m Sad” built to a big, anthemic yet still melancholy denouement, a ragged “Shit TV” (“we’ve only played it a few times!” pleaded Jess) featured some taut, Interpol-esque one note riffery before a dismissive spoken word chorus, with the subsequent “3 Kisses” immediately changing tack with a Summery, almost Beach Boys hook. “Space” was a thunderous wall of noise, guitarist Steph riffing for all she was worth, “Breakdown” again saw the guitarist generate squalls of impressive volume, and “FLAG”’s screeching riot-grrrl chorus rounded off a breathless and rampaging set, the sole encore of an undulating “Can’t Talk, Won’t” finishing off the gig with a flourish.

 

By this time I’d inveigled my way through the mosh to the front, in prime position to be handed Jess’ list by Steph (hooray!), and after pausing for breath, briefly renewed acquaintances with this affable yet predictably besieged band at the merch stand. A quick and chatty journey home after another splendid gig. Looking forward to seeing them at Victorious now, but as for tonight; fireworks we expected, and fireworks we got!

1,224 THE STAYAWAKES, Everyone Lies, Fareham Ashcroft Arts Centre, Friday 6th May 2022

 

A bit of an adventure, this one, and a memorable one for a number of reasons, sadly not all of them good… But here goes…

 I’d picked up on Southsea band The Stayawakes last year thanks to Facebook’s “New Music For Old Punks” page, ordering their 2021 sophomore CD “Pop Dreamz” from bandcamp and discovering a clutch of irresistibly melodic powerpop numbers featuring huge hooks you could easily land the average whale shark with, underpinned by loud, crunchy guitars and the type of honeyed, 3-part harmonies that, even approaching 57 years young, still make my knees buckle with delight. A definite and timeless lineage to this sound for me, stretching through the likes of Swiss Family Orbison, The Hormones and even Gigolo Aunts, Velvet Crush and Teenage Fanclub, and always the type of music I can never have too many bands playing for me! So, a Stayawakes gig was definitely on the agenda from that point on, their lack of profile outside their native South Coast (less than 1,000 likes on facebook! The fuck’s that about? They’re brilliant!) unfortunately seeming to preclude any… until this one, a support slot on a Friday night in a tiny Arts Centre in a South Coast town I’d never muddied with my presence before! So, the adventure starts…

 Logan was up for it too, so we hit the road just before 5 with warnings of M4 crashes forcing us to avoid it altogether and take a cross-country route to the A34. Notwithstanding that, the rest of the journey was stupidly easy for a Friday evening, and we parked up in this tiny Arts Centre car park about an hour before doors! Took a wander into town to pass the time before heading back into the light and airy dance studio venue’s bar, to be hit with a proverbial sledgehammer… I’d idly logged onto facebook only to be informed about the sudden passing of Boston rock musician friend Michael Gill; utterly stunned by this news, I however soon realised I’d need to park my sorrow and get my head back in the game for the gig, if for no other reason because that would be what Michael, with his innate passion for rock, would want from me…

 Taking a moment, I then popped down the front with Logan and plopped down on a couple of small metal stools (which, I was informed by the soundguy afterwards, were actually tiny tables; surprised they held my weight!) for first band Everyone Lies. After a couple of 100mph ramalama punk openers, they settled down to some quite passable and more melodic if generic pop punk. An early “Smile Inside My Head” featured an insistent hook underneath all the power chords, “90’s Girl” was apparently about guitarist Adam’s girlfriend (“to be fair, I’m punching…!” he was happy to admit) and featured some nice Camden lyrical references which Camden fan Logan appreciated, then the main vocalist tried and managed to get this small but perfectly formed crowd to sing along the hook to breakneck penultimate number “Get Up”. Overall a decent start, with a fair level of tuneage and musicianship buried underneath those power chords…

 Logan and I had discussed band images beforehand, noting that all photos I’d seen of The Stayawakes featured them all suited up like Elvis Costello and the Attractions, or even (more relevantly for me) The Gravel Pit, and I was hoping they were planning that attire tonight. No such luck (and probably a good thing too, as this, despite the small turnout, was a hot one, particularly on the tall, window-backed stage), but they came onstage sporting matching pastel pink spotted shirts, so I’ll take that! Powering into the drum-roll and power riffery opening of the rampant “Wendi”, the sound was however somewhat haphazard and discordant initially, despite the band powering through in an impressively kinetic, high-kicking manner. However, by 3^rd number, the American Hi-Fi-isms and snaking, almost Thin Lizzy like guitar breaks of a stupendously catchy “Please Steve Just Drive”, they were flying… and flying high!

 

This set was all I’d hoped from The Stayawakes, and more; the type of set the likes of Midway Still, Seafood, even the Hi-Fi themselves specialised in delivering… all-action, full of energy, effervescence and wild-eyed, high-kicking and jumping onstage movement, often raggedy arsed as all hell and not entirely bereft of the occasional bum note, but when it’s this thrilling, this viscerally exciting, who cares? It also didn’t escape my notice that this was also the kind of pure rock’n’roll set we saw Michael’s band The Damn Personals deliver on 3 occasions back in the day, so the only thing for me to do was to rock out as much as my battered body and buggered knees would allow. “Oh Telephone” was a pounding, fist-pumping hook-driven anthem; the slower “Stepping Over Cracks” was the outlier amongst the ball-crunching powerpop deluge, its’ menacing march and falsetto vocal outro from bassist Jimmy recalling Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” (a point also not lost on the soundguy, who played said track following their set!); and “Lovestruck” was just spellbindingly brilliant, its’ sheer joyful riffery and multiple singalong hooks winning for me not only set highlight but one of the best “live” numbers I’ve seen this year, period! An all-too-short half hour ended with Jimmy and main vocalist Andrew riffing furiously and rocking out on the dancefloor next to me to closer “Little Explorer”, leaving this old punker breathless yet exhilarated. Just wonderful stuff, the essence of rock’n’roll for me. You can keep your big stages, big productions and big “shows”, this is what does it for me!

 

Took a breath outside afterwards as the boys unpacked and loaded up, then had an extensive chat with the band, finding a group of rock fans and kindred spirits, the likes of Gigolo Aunts, The Hi-Fi (The Stayawakes having been compared to both, apparently!) and even The Posies and Raze*Rebuild cropping up in conversation (as well as Logan’s Bowling For Soup shenanigans!). Headliners Dead Authors’ set provided a musical backdrop through the backstage door – I didn’t hear any of the supposed “angsty pop-punk/ folk-rock”, it all sounded a bit proggier to me, but I’m happy to admit I wasn’t paying much attention! Eventually we headed off about 10ish, following photos and warm handshakes with the band, for an equally eventful journey home – again part-cross country following M27 closures and M4 late-night delays, and involving 2 wrong turns and an owl sitting in the middle of the road! Home just before midnight, kebabs in tow. An amazing gig, immersing myself again in the life-affirming joy of rock’n’roll. Tonight was a great gig night. Tonight was for Michael.