This Friday I made the inspired choice to venture down to Brixton for a Quadrilles EP launch night and I thought, as I have been absent here since my move to London, I might do a little blog about it. So here comes the words.
A band called Adults, the Elderly and Children began the evening and left me in a slight quandary. First of all, is their name awful or delightful? Secondly, is their music disjointed or similarly delightful. I never quite made up my mind on either counts but I will pause to lament on the unfortunately weak start they made in their first two songs. Cohesion was lacking on various degrees throughout their performance, going from severe to unnoticeable. When it was most evident, it bordered on jarring as their electric guitar heavy arrangement created a disconcerting collection of twangs. Also, their singer was not a strong element. However, follow the above link and you will hear plenty of evidence to the contrary, it simply may not have been his night.
Once the band started to focus on songs from their upcoming album, there was considerable improvement. Very similar to early and mid Maccabees with songs attempting to get to your nostalgic and warm centres. All things considered, this is a band that will need a big change to become different and largely noticeable but there is some interesting potential and an extremely talented guitarist in the short guy with the red t-shirt.
Next came Olympians, the primary reason for my expedition that evening. I have already given them a rave review on this blog before and I do not intend to do anything less here. It was a slightly different performance than those I have seen from this outfit in the past. A decreased body count in terms of instruments at least, and maybe people, I can't remember. Either way, the sound was a different one, ridding themselves of subdued grandness with slow builds and subtle cascades. Instead going for a energetic barnstorm which showcased previously ignored punk roots. Commanding possibly the biggest crowd of the night the audience gave a raptuous response to the Norfolkian(?) artists as they gave a comprehensive lesson in eclectic cohesion. Looking forward to how they perform the next time I happen upon them.
Quadrilles were the focus for the evening, it all being about the release of their new Inuit EP.
One thing that is made certain by these guys is that math rock really isn't going away. Whether this is a good or not is for greater minds than mine to decide. These guys are pretty good at it but at their math rocky peaks had a tendency to sound like a Foals tribute band, which is not something we need. It was the times when they dropped the 'math' from their musical adjectives that they really impressed creating pounding rock noises to excite all those listening.
The round off the evening we had a lovely little set from one man band Theo. There isn't too much I can say about this guy other than he is fucking aces. Like super-duper really. Obviously, by one man band I mean someone playing a variety of instruments, creating loops and layering these different sounds on top of each other rather than a Mary Poppins-esque man with a drum on his back. Having said it though, that would impress me. My actual point is that Theo played a faultless, exhilarating set using loops to a standard not reached by many. The only person I have seen command them so well is Thomas Truax and that is a different kind of music altogether. If you know Fang Island, and you should, then you can imagine some of the sounds and progression that was emanating from the man playing drums and guitar in the midst of the pub crowd. Go and see him play.
