1,015 SO SO GLOS, Supp. Faux, Scarecrow Boat, 4 Days Out, Southampton Joiner's Arms, Friday 9th December 2016

A late change of plans led me to this one tonight; I actually had a ticket for the Frightened Rabbit gig at Bristol Trinity tonight, which I booked up before I heard their current album and found it, well, a bit rubbish actually! Monitoring their lists suggested they were also omitting my favoured tracks from their last albums as well (including, criminally, easily their best number in “Backyard Skulls”), so I was looking forward to said show with scant relish. However, Brooklyn manic punk thrillers The So So Glos then announced a short tour in support of current album “Kamikaze”, a darker, more “mature” sounding album than their previous deliciously chaotic affair (and by “more mature”, I simply mean, “the songs don’t sound as if they’re going to collapse over themselves at any moment…!”) with a Joiners Arms date on the same night. After a debate with myself about the ethics and economics of an unemployed man booking 2 gig tickets for the same night, I looked into this gig and discovered tix were only £7! Result!

So a dilemma suddenly became a no-brainer, and I took a drive down in inky blackness to Southampton, parking up a stone’s throw from the venue on free-after-8 street parking. Yay! A band were already on, so I popped into the sparsely-attended and smaller than I remembered “L” shaped pub back room to catch the last half of their set. 4 Days Out, for such they were, had a very Welsh sounding vocalist who was initially set up on the dancefloor, leading his band through a decent line in stripped-back impassioned verses and dual vocal attack, tumbling into more discordant choral noise – very emo-esque. After asking for a, “follow the leader conga,” as he re-took the stage, they played a final number, “Long Way Back”, which was a more straightforward indie rocker, almost recalling Ash in a driven, hooky “na na na” chorus. Not bad!

I then popped back to the bar, and enjoyed a chat with So So Glo brothers Ryan and Alex, manning the merch stand, before checking out Scarecrow Boat, next up in short order. A painfully young 2 girl, 2 boy combo, they announced, “we’re gonna play some songs about Star Wars!”, but actually plied an effervescent brand of youthful, spunky C86-influenced pop bounce, with tough, crunchy guitar power chord overlays and bratty choral hooks. A lot like recent finds Martha, I thought (a point I made to the vocalist afterwards, who seemed to take it as a compliment), and I enjoyed both the song about spaghetti, which was delivered in an impassioned vein by the blue-haired female guitarist, and their thrashy, yelping cover of Brand New’s “Seventy Times 7”, both numbers epitomising a set played with vim, vigour and enthusiasm. Smart and spritely if a little shambolic around the edges, but hey, that’s the essence of rock’n’roll, right kids?

A couple of bright support sets in the books, and So So Glos next up… this was shaping up to be a good night! A shame the clientele didn’t reflect my enthusiasm, as the venue was still sparsely attended as the Brooklyn boys set up, Alex eventually calling, “get those people from the back up here!” before kicking into their set at 9.20. Straight into wild, thrashy opener “Dancing Industry” and the more drum-dominated “Longview” sound-alike of “ADD Life”, the double whammy openers of the new record, and they were immediately “on it”, Alex wild eyed and kinetic, throwing Johnny Ramone poses with his low-slung bass and exhorting the crowd to, “come down the front, I promise you’ll have more fun!”, and his swarthy sibling Ryan all rock star leathers and bandana to his right. I was already down the front, giving it as many as my dodgy knees would allow, in prime position for the likes of the joyous Ramones-ish “Going Out Swingin’” and its’ multiple goodbyes, the powerpoppy “Diss Town” with its’ skyscraping hook and “whoa-oh” mid-song pause, and the galloping, almost “Charming Man” beat of “Lost Weekend”. Mature and darker newer material or no, The So So Glos tonight delivered a fast, frantic and superfun set of Black Flag meets Dickies US punk rock, manic and amphetamine fast, the raw ragged edges as ever enhancing the experience.

“We’re a dysfunctional band of brothers!” Alex announced, which summed it all up, before a slightly shambolic but still ace “Wrecking Ball”, then a breathless 50 minutes concluded by Alex remarking, “we’re on the Brexit from the USA tour! We see your Brexit and raise you a Trump!” before the joyous punk romp of “Son Of An American”, probably the set highlight and a fitting closer. More chat with the boys during “headliner” Faux’s reasonable if more formulaic indie rock set, and an (eventually!) fully signed set-list was the punctuation point to a great night. Drove home very buoyant – this was definitely the right shout!

928 THE HOLD STEADY, THE SO SO GLOS, Birmingham O2 Academy 2, Monday 13 October 2014

Hold Steady set-list signed by the band at their PA at Bristol Rough Trade Records on Thursday 9th March 2023!

Off once again to see The Hold Steady, possibly my favourite band over the last 7 or 8 years and for me the band that, above all others, currently encapsulates my love for this many-splendored thing called rock’n’roll. It’s a lengthy jaunt up to B’rum tonight, as their Bristol gig next week in support of tremendous new album “Teeth Dreams”, likely my favourite of 2014, coincides with our family break in Butlins! Still, after the form they displayed at their Bush Hall gig back in May, I’d go to the ends of the Earth to see them, so Birmingham is just a quick drive up the road in comparison! If further incentive be needed (hah!), support is provided by The So So Glos, probably my favourite new band discovery of this year, a raucous, terrace chant anthemic punk rock rabble also known for instigating the “Shea Stadium” venue and recording space regularly haunted by the likes of the Mighty Titus Andronicus.

 

A real potential double whammy in prospect, so nothing’s standing in the way of this one for me! I duly drove into work and set off directly at my Monday afternoon 3.30 finishing time (usually to fetch the kids but tonight to fetch the rock!), purposefully hitting a sodden road oop North, and arriving at the venue after a wet old journey 20 minutes before doors. A filthy night, this; even the touts stayed in their cars and shouted, “got any spare? Buy or sell,” at passers-by! I was second in at just after 7 (the venue not being prepared to throw us damp early-comers a bone and open up early), hitting this upstairs venue resembling the Oxford Zodiac room in both size and orientation, thence sitting and watching the place slowly fill up.

 

A poor turnout early doors – it was barely 1/3 full by 8, so I got a spot on the barriers, stage left, quite easily for the So So Glos’ entrance. This young Brooklyn 4-piece took the stage, and the stage stayed well and truly took! Storming into the strident, ballsy opener “Son Of An American”, a swaggering statement of intent, they were dynamic, kinetic, intense and committed from the outset, playing their powerful, upbeat punk rock with a raucous, carefree attitude. Surprisingly more punchy, powerful and together “live” in comparison to their nevertheless excellent album “Blowout”, which often feels like Black Flag’s seminal “TV Party” times 10 and consequently on the verge of collapse at any moment, they nonetheless surfed constantly on the ragged edge, delivering a thrilling set. “This song’s about Xanax, America’s legal drug dealers!” announced wide-eyed vocalist Alex for third number, the breathless “Xanax”. That’s punk attitude for you! “Wrecking Ball” featured some in-your-face rap call-and-response vocals and a crushing terrace chant hook, whilst “Speakeasy” recalled early Hot Hot Heat with its’ yelping vocals and bass-powered rhythm. However the penultimate number “Everything Revival” was the highlight; unplanned but shouted for by (and subsequently dedicated to!) me, this was utterly magnificent, a joyous punk rock romp with a soaring singalong hook, which I shouted raucously from my front row spot. Great stuff!

 

Follow that, gents! The place finally filled up but was by no means full, as I kept my barrier spot and chatted with some fellow front row punters, before The Velvet Underground’s “We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together” heralded the entrance of The Hold Steady, just after 9. “Like the man said, we’re gonna have a good time together!” announced effusive frontman Craig Finn as the band raced headlong into the careering, Ramones-like opener “Ask Her For Adderall”. And we were away on another Hold Steady thrill ride, Finn as ever everywhere, exhorting the crowd, repeating lines off-mic, and generally revelling in the sheer unalloyed delight at being the singer in a rock’n’roll band. “I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You” and the brilliant swaggering blues of “Sequestered In Memphis” were similar early highlights, Finn again sarcastically emphasising the line, “I went there on business..”

 

“Truth is a squirrelly concept in rock and roll… one thing is true, you CAN make him like you!” announced Finn by introduction to that number; indeed the frontman was on verbal overload tonight, his endless yet entertaining between-song banter matching the articulate verbiage overload of his lyrics. One such soliloquy started with, “I think we’re a pretty good bar band,” and ended with a headlong tumble into the roaring “Constructive Summer”, whilst the next kicked off with, “this is important, so humour me,” went off on a tangent into a debate on the development of the Internet (!), finally returning with, “my point being… there are SO many ways you could be spending your Monday night, yet you’re all here!”

 

The subsequent “Spinners” (“about going out”) was the set highlight, ebullient, all inclusive and joyfully rendered by the enthusiastic Finn and a band totally on top of their game. Occasionally muddy sound couldn’t spoil the fun tonight, as I again abandoned myself to the moment and bounced along throughout, singing myself hoarse and ignoring the inevitable sore knees the next day. Some light and shade too – “Ambassador” diffused the mood before Tad Kubler delivered the plangent opening riff to the inevitable “Stuck Between Stations”. A Motown-esque “What A Resurrection Feels Like” segued into a singalong “Walk On By”, to close a breathless set.

 

We got another soliloquy from Finn, a man after my own heart, who also believes in cutting a short story long, during the encores, then a ragged, none-more appropriate “Stay Positive” ended a brilliant 1 hour 40 performance. Gathered my thoughts, chatted and hung awhile with the Merch stand-bound So So Glos, then hit an utterly awash A38 out of Birmingham and a less sodden M5 home, catching my breath. Tonight The Hold Steady were again utterly imperious, and cemented their reputation as, for me, the finest purveyors of rock music right now. But spare a thought for The So So Glos; tonight 4 Brooklyn upstarts went toe to toe with the best band on Planet Earth and emerged with flying colours. So as I said, a real double whammy!