1,133 MARTHA, THE WOAHNOWS, Nervus Rex, Bristol Exchange, Friday 26th April 2019

Alumni of my heady post-redundancy rush of new band discoveries of 2016, and now regulars on any Dance Card of mine, Pity Me's hooligan bunch of self-confessed gender warrior punx Martha announced a tour in support of new album "Love Keeps Kicking", so I booked for the Bristol Exchange date promptly before it sold out! Said new album is another little firecracker of energetic guitar-propelled tuneage, the flippant 3-pronged vocal attack never straying far from the usual Martha subject matter of the awkwardness of relationships in the 2000s, so this gig promised to be a little corker as well.

I was joined by Martha addicts Andy and Stuart, plus Andy's mate Mandie, heading off early to secure decent parking, but parking up easily on our new Exchange spot after a swift drive down. Before doors too, so had a drink in the pub next door (well, they did... nowt for the designated driver, thanks!) before hitting the venue about 7.45. A quick squint in Specialist Subject Records, a small shop above the venue, before popping in for openers Nervus Rex. Clearly fans of dinosaurs judging by their matching masks, but not of rehearsals, if their "songs" and "performance" (and I use both words in their loosest sense) were anything to go by. Folks, I get the home-made DIY vibe, I do, but playing as if you'd not only just been introduced to each other 5 minutes before going onstage, but only just picked up your instruments for the first time ever (!) at that time as well isn't "cute" or "charming", it's frankly an insult to your audience. Luckily, I wasn't one of them for long, bailing out to the bar after suffering a couple of their horribly amateurish 5th form dirge-like numbers.

Back in for The Woahnows, though; this 3-piece had intrigued last time out at this venue with some frantic MC4/ Senseless Things strumalong pop, so I was expecting more of the same... initially this was the case, with opener "World Explodes" a brisk, earnest emo-core opener in a Modern Baseball style, but it was "No One Else", next up, that was the real surprise. Slower, tougher and punchier, this was a big robust powerpop tune with a soaring chorus reminiscent of The Posies or Redd Kross, and totally hooked me and reeled me in. The subsequent set was very varied but all fine quality; a couple of other chunky powerpop numbers (the harmonic "Hippy Shit" recalling the excellent "I'd Rather Be" by Myracle Brah), some light-touch slow moments to break up buoyant indie jangle, and a final "angry pop punk song" in "Cold", which also impressed last time out. Between numbers, long-haired and slightly androgynous vocalist Tim was an engaging presence, throwing the headliners some back-handed compliments ("thanks to Martha for bringing so many people to see them that they have to see us!" and "[Martha] are lovely; there's 4 of them and there's at least 3 lovely people!") before admitting, "they've got so many bangers in their set." A fair few in this short, snappy and increasingly impressive Woahnows set now too!

Grabbed a list from Tim and promised to grab a copy of their debut CD afterwards, then Stu and I did a loo-break relay (well, that's a necessity in a sold-out venue with no proper "gents", just a urinal-free "gender-neutral" toilet... hmm...) to keep our front row spots for Martha. After a fiddly soundcheck, they took the stage at 10, busting into newie "Wrestlemania VIII" with vim and vigour, guitarist Daniel leading the charge with his high-pitched, yearning vocal style. As before, lead vocal-swapping was a feature of the set, other guitarist Jonathan taking a more nuanced though no less passionate lead for the singalong "Chekhov's Hangnail", and diminutive bassist Naomi lending her aitch-shredding, "t"-dropping Minnie Mouse on helium style for "Supermarket Song", a sterling effort in spite of her clearly suffering with sinus trouble and making increasing recourse to a tissue box, secreted onstage, throughout.

This was again a damn fine set of Martha's brisk, guitar-heavy, C86-influenced Buzzcocks-like lovelorn punk pop, the band this time cutting out much of the between-song banter and politicking in favour of delivering the rock. Newie "Sight For Sore Eyes" followed a couple of onstage band meetings "at the same time!", "Curly And Raquel" was a tight, punchy mid-set highlight, and "Do Nothing" a slower-burn, Pixies-ish grungy workout building to a noisy climax. By comparison, new CD title track "Love Keeps Kicking" felt almost 60's-ish melodic Merseybeat-like pop, but again my fave was "Goldman's Detective Agency", the bouncy and racy descending refrain and 3-part harmonies a feature of this, IMHO Martha's best song. Great stuff!

An hour's set was topped with an encore featuring (very!) oldie "Sycamore" and frantic terrace-chant closer "Christine". I'd been bopping near the front throughout, and reached over past the ubiquitous Jeff (who'd been resting his ulcerated foot, instead using his usual front-row spot to sketch Naomi) to grab a list, getting it signed by the Martha folks before making good on my promise, picking up The Woahnows CD from a merch stand-bound Tim and leaving him some powerpop recommendations for his Spotify playlist. A swift, footy-trivia propelled drive home saw me dropping folks off and hitting home just after midnight, following another splendid Martha gig!.

998 MARTHA, The Woahnows, Two White Cranes, Bristol Exchange, Saturday 23rd July 2016

 

A very recent discovery for me, this lot: with the “Sword of Damocles” of potential redundancy hanging over my head earlier this year, I had neither the financial wherewithal nor the desire to look out for new and intriguing bands. However, oddly enough, when said redundancy was confirmed, I resolved to play “catch up” with a bit of my payout, and search out some new listening material. This particular bunch of young Durham oiks came courtesy of a recommendation from the esteemed Mr. Stuart “Langers”; I liked what I heard on Youtube, and promptly picked up their CDs, including current one “Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart”, finding it an amphetamine-fast rush of joyous and hooky indie pop with overlays of loud and crunchy powerpop guitar, galloping along on a swelling tide of bratty call and response male/ female vocals. As if Seafood were a C86 band, or like a Talulah Gosh on US popcore steroids… either way, enough to not only feature on heavy rotation in the car, but also enough for me to book tix for this timely Bristol gig!

Andy Fenton, being familiar with the band through “Indietracks”, was up for this too, so he picked me up on a sun-drenched Saturday evening for a swift drive down to the Exchange, finding venue and street parking easily and having a drink in the beer garden of the Stag And Hounds next door, declining their invite to join them for their hardcore punk band evening! We then hung around outside the Exchange after getting our entry wristbands, bumping into Bristol friends Kiron and Alison before wandering into this weirdly shaped and early-doors well-attended venue for openers Two White Cranes. A solo girl vocalist/ guitarist for a couple of numbers (one bolshy Rodney Allen-like original, and a cover of The Beautiful South’s “Prettiest Eyes”), she was then joined by her drummer colleague for a swift set of twee, gauche and partly formed indie/ US 90’s college pop, simple and pleasant enough but chronically unrehearsed. “Sorry I keep playing the wrong notes,” she remarked after another bum note, “but it’s part of the charm…” Erm, no, it’s not…

The Woahnows, up in short order at 9.15, were in no mood to fuck about; kicking into a wildly pounding and amphetamine fast rocking opener recalling Annie Christian, this young trio (featuring a replacement bassist called Matt, who kept announcing, “I’m Phil Randall!”) kicked into overdrive with a snappy set of Mega City Four/ Senseless Things frantic strumalong pop, often featuring songs which started fast and got faster! A new number (“Cold” on the set-list, but featuring a soaring hook of, “best defense/ best of friends”) was easily their best one, a rampant slice of post-popcore with an anthemic chorus, and they then brought Dan from Martha onstage for a cover of one of the headliner’s numbers! Promising stuff overall.

A swift 20 minute turnaround saw Martha take the stage at 10 in front of a rammed and enthusiastic sellout young crowd. Three scruffy indie boys and a female bassist with hot pants and a Minnie Mouse vocal delivery, they were also “on it” from the outset, guitarist Dan belting into the strident, in your face opener “Christine” and the equally breathless “Ping”, next up. Said female bassist Naomi suggested, “the crowd’s well organised in height order, but take a look around [so everyone can see],” before she took turns at lead vocals for the chuntering 6^th form angst of “1997, Passing In The Hallway”. One key feature of Martha’s performance, in fact, was that all 4 members took turns at lead vocals, with Naomi’s vocals flippant and haughtily detached, Dan and other guitarist Jonathan both echoing the high-pitched, yearning and passionate vocal delivery of Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carraba, and even drummer Nathan getting in on the act. Nathan also featured the best line in song intros (“this songs about when you’re young, you’re not conservative then you get more conservative as you get older, then when you’re older still you’re not conservative at all – what’s that about?” being an entertainingly rambling example) as well as his utterly judicious bass drum message “I miss EU, I’m lonely”, echoing Martha’s song of the (almost) same name, the number which in fact (following my set highlight, a superb penultimate “Curly And Raquel”) concluded their swift and tremendous 45 minute set of amped-up powerful, tight and punchy indiepop.

A couple of equally frantic encores saw a fine performance to a conclusion, and I briefly congratulated the band on our way out, before a trip home delayed by an accident right on our M4 junction. Nonetheless, a superb evening out in the company of a buoyant and hugely promising new band. Good shout, “Langers”!