“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!
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