The UK is in the grip of a serious heatwave, so what do I do on probably the hottest day of said spell? Why, go to a sell-out gig in a tiny venue in Bristol, of course! To be fair, this one was booked long before the mercury went haywire; a quick return to gigging action for North-East helium punk-popsters Martha, and at Strange Brew, the same venue where they tore it up last September (gig. 1,344), but this time in support (!) of quirky US indie newbies Cheekface! I’d liked bits of the Cheeksters’ stripped back, lyrically wry and comedic recorded output so far, particularly the They Might Be Giants through a Weezer filter vibe of “We Need A Bigger Dumpster” but I was intrigued to see how the joke might play out over a full hour. Particularly in a sweaty little venue, following such an overtly dynamic band such as Martha. We’ll see…
My Dice app suggested doors were at 7, so I set off just after 6.15 for an air-conditioned drive down a baking M4, only to find I was ½ hour late, with openers Fresh already midway through their set! Damn shame, as what I heard was some spritely, fast and frantic C86-ish ramshackle indie pop, with some insistent overlaid choral harmonies recalling early Coach Party or even tonight’s headliners. Vocalist Kathryn was clearly up for it as well; “my bra is out, my boobs are out [they weren’t], my armpit hair is out… it’s the most fun I’ve had in years!” A slightly messy grunge/ thrash closer didn’t detract from a splendid opening set, prompting me to buy their “Raise Hell” CD and chat briefly with the ebullient vocalist afterwards. Apparently, most of Fresh’s set was new material too, being tour road-tested, so fingers crossed for a new album later this year…
The place was already full and sweaty, so
I grabbed a central spot a few rows back for Martha’s 7.50 entrance after a
startlingly quick turnaround. In no mood to fuck about or make concessions to
the heat, they ripped into their set in their usual rapid-fire manner, an early
“Chekhov’s Hangnail” prompting an early singalong from this young, gender-fluid
audience. “Happy Pride! Especially if you’re Trans!” Naomi announced after a
jolly “Love Keeps Kicking”, introducing the subsequent broodier “Into This”
with an ironic, “this is a love song…”; then the brash, breathless and acerbic
“Hope Gets Harder” tore the venue a new one, drummer Nathan powering the number
along and finishing with a “Tommy Gun” drum flourish.
Guitarist JC shared a story of getting in trouble in the supermarket earlier before “Supermarket Song”, then drummer Nathan announced a rarely/ never (?) played oldie, the urgent “Historian”, featuring excellent layered harmony vocals from all 4 band members, singing contrasting lyric lines, an oft-underappreciated feature of a number of Martha songs. Following a punkish blast through “Wrestlemania VIII”, the drummer then made an impassioned albeit carefully worded speech in support of Palestine to unanimous acclaim from the crowd, before a venomous set-highlight “Flag Burner”. The change of pace and gabbled vocal of “Bubble In My Bloodstream” closed a frenetic 45 minutes, after which, despite only swaying in my spot, I looked like someone had dumped a bucket of water over me! Still, well worth it for another excellent Martha set…
Took a breather outside (as, it seemed, did most of the audience!) before heading back in just before the headliners, as the PA blasted TMBG’s “Birdhouse In Your Soul”. A bit on the nose, that…! Cheekface themselves emerged behind a marching band fanfare backing track, a buoyant opener in “Popular” (no, not that one…) followed swiftly by vocalist Greg Katz’ slower, monotone rap during “Best Life” and even more robotic vocal delivery of “Featured Singer”, segueing into an audience participation of “Cha Cha Slide”.
And therein lies my problem with Cheekface; as much as I enjoyed Katz’ deadpan, Richman-esque vocal delivery during the subsequent “We Need A Bigger Dumpster” (which was excellent, the laconic stripped-back verse bursting into a huge, stomping Weezer-esque chorus), too much of it made the early material sound flat and plodding, the laconic and intricately humorous nature of the lyrics also being a bit lost for me in the process. The between song banter (shticks about Bristol being “an important entertainment market” and a quip about air-con having not made it across the Atlantic) was also delivered in the same inexpressive manner, and (despite clearly being the only one with this view in this enthusiastic crowd), I was really holding out for something to liven Cheekface’s performance up a few notches…
Luckily it arrived, and via an unlikely
source; Katz introduced, “an original Cheekface composition,” in “Noodles”, a
song to rival Sebadoh in its subject matter, brevity and utter silliness, then
in a fun “Groundhog Day” moment, played the damn thing 3 times! After that, the
set picked up considerably in both pace and buoyant mood; “When Life Hands You
Problems” was a superfast gabbling punky blast, and whilst I could have done
without the “Give It Away” rap in an otherwise fine drum-propelled “Military
Gum”, the subsequent “Eternity Leave” was a great We Are Scientists-like slice
of alt-powerpop, and the upbeat Smiths jangle of “Art House” even better. The
relentlessly jolly “Middle East” preceded a diatribe from Katz about the need
for community in this fucked-up world, before the jumpy Weezer-isms of “Listen
To Your Heart” rounded off a variable set which finished very strongly and
largely won this old cynic over in the end.