Phoning it in

Dispatches from the back of the venue

RIYL: Slowdive

  • Chameleons

    Chameleons

    Ah The Chameleons. The perennial North Manchester psychedelic misfits. Too late for the first wave of Manchester post punk with Joy Division and Magazine. By the time ‘Madchester’ was in full swing they’d already imploded. In the mid 80s Manchester hinterland they played The Big Music, got Steve Lillywhite in to produce ’em, got signed by a major label and sounded like a Stadium band when everyone else was playing jangly guitars and wearing anoraks.

    In theory they should have been rubbing shoulders with U2 and Simple Minds or at the very least, Echo and the Bunnymen. Mishaps and misfortune meant they never quite made it to the enormodomes. They did however have a huge influence – every shoegaze band like Ride, Lush and Slowdive owe a debt to their shimmering, ambient guitar wash and the band Interpol pretty much borrowed their entire musical schtick and put it in some sharp suits.

    Manchester never forgot them and over the years, versions of Chameleons fronted by the artist formerly known as Mark Burgess (who, these days only answers to the name ‘Vox’) as the only constant have kept the legacy going, and like their peers Simple Minds and the Bunnymen they are now settled around the classic “two man band’ of Vox – and original guitarist Reg Smithies (make no mistake –  Elton is the 2nd best Reg in Rock). The latter positively skips across the stage as the band step out onto the Albert Hall – like he knows something we don’t know..

    They’ve gradually rebuilt their audience home and abroad, particularly the US where they were a College Radio evergreen –  but they always play a big homecoming gig close to Christmas and in the same way that Shack are to Liverpool, or Lindisfarne to Newcastle -these are emotional occasions with dewy eyed lads and girls hollering every word. Over the years they’ve resorted to playing old albums in full, even recreating previous classic setlists – and while they never fail to ignite there’s at times perhaps the nagging sense they were becoming a tribute to themselves.

    Tonight feels different, they have a new album out and new songs to play. This seems to have had a transformative effect, they’ve got something to prove, and they play like someone has lit a massive bonfire under them. Not hearing a predictable set of songs you already know adds a bit of grit and tension and it works wonders – it jolts the Chameleons into 2025 not 1985. There are plenty of old favourites in the set if course, but the new stuff fizzes with renewed energy-  I’m particularly taken with ‘David Bowie Takes My Hand’ a slow burning anthem which despite it’s clunky title has an emotional heft to it and sound like a future classic that’ll be part of the set for some time. They close the first part with a mind frazzling twofer of ‘Soul in Isolation’ and ‘Swamp Thing’, with Vox, arms outstretched, leading the type of transcendental singalong that most bands of this vintage can only dream of. 

    They return and slash through a rip roaring ‘In Shreds’ and the obligatory ‘Second Skin’ ( a song so good, the audience are singing the keyboard riff before it even starts) and just when you thing it’s all over a final explosive ‘Don’t Fall’ segues into a call & response riff on Bowie’s  ‘Rebel Rebel’ – pure stadium rock showmanship again. I don’t recall seeing them play with such gusto for a long time and with new music to play, they feel current and vital rather than just peddling nostalgia for us fluorescent greys. Vox says this’ll be the last time we see them for a while – so whether they will be back next Xmas, I don’t know but do not miss them if they are. 

  • Pale Blue Eyes & Shaking Hand

    Pale Blue Eyes & Shaking Hand

    The Devon / Sheffield crossover Dream pop combo delight a Wednesday night crowd in Manchester

    Support comes from Shaking Hand who I’ve already seen at one of the excellent Hot Take band showcase gigs at Yes Manchester. They strike up an unhurried, circular groove and there’s something immediately appealing about them as the venue fills and people gather to listen rather than ignore, as can happen with supports. We’re in good hands with this unassuming 3 piece – guitar / vocalist playing distinctive weaving guitar parts, a drummer pattering away with jazzy flourishes but with a pleasing kick, and a bassist who frequently doubles as a twin lead – playing the higher register of the instrument. They have a post-rock edge to them, a little bit of Slint or early Tortoise perhaps, or the fabled Leeds band Hood and while the pieces they play are enjoyably drifty at times – they aren’t averse to wrong-footing us with a sudden tempo change, a burst of noise, a scrape of strings here or a cheeky rhythmic curveball there. They wear their guitars well, they play studiously but with a confidence that suggests they know how they good they are- I like them a lot and, judging by the applause, everyone else does too. There appears to be no recorded material available but hopefully they’re busy in a studio somewhere bottling that magic.

    On to the headliners. I’m a bit behind the curve with Pale Blue Eyes but Piccadilly Records piqued my interest and I’ve been enjoying their latest record ‘New Place’ which it turns out is their 3rd album so I’ve some catching up to do. For a band who trade in dreamy, shoegazey pop they have a disarmingly chummy and light hearted air about them – in fact their footwear remains un-gazed at and they spend most of the time looking and grinning at each other and the audience – it turns out PBE here to have a good time and so should we.

    The band have toured with Slowdive and they share a love of using guitars and keyboards to create a sea bed for the songs to float on but they have their own distinct sound that is sparkly, upbeat and distinctly pop-tastic. Lots of major chords, and at times this sounds like ‘The Big Music’ – think Simple Minds in their early 80s pomp but also informed by Stereolab, and the locked groove of Neu! or La Dusseldorf – but just when it seems they might lean a bit too much into that well-worn trench coat – they pull out a moody, slower number or throw in a gorgeous chord pattern or bassline that has their own distinct stamp on it. They have art college roots – and drummer Lucy, it transpires wrote a thesis about Cabaret Voltaire – so, again, we’re in safe hands and these people know what they’re doing

    There’s something very appealing and convivial about PBE – there is a husband & wife duo at the core (Matt and Lucy), who have relocated from Devon to Sheffield and the new record which is informed by upheaval and loss – and it’s hard not to be moved by the joy emanating from the stage – they feel like one of those bands that will inspire a certain amount of loyalty (I’m thinking of Sea Power who they’ve supported) and they’re going to be a bit of a regular fixture. I’m on board!

  • julie

    julie

    California 3 piece julie (lower case – obvs) have the pop-crazed youngsters moshing with their iPhones in the air like they just don’t care

    julie have made quite an impression it seems and have a sold out tour of the UK ahead of them and I just make it in time to catch the unusually early start of 8.15 (which no amount of scouring the Gorilla or SJM ‘socials’ would reveal) so I’m in a narky mood as the loud strains of opera emanate from the empty stage as the capacity crowd gear up for julie. This had better be good.

    It is good. The band take to the stage to a trouser flapping bass rumble and the crowd go absolutely nuts as they crash into the first tune ‘catalogue’ (lower case).

    julie have acquired that inevtiable Shoegaze or Nu-Gaze tag but fundamentally it’s not the swoonsome Slowdive or Cocteau Twins that is the obvious inspiration here. It’s the scuzzier, Squatney, cheap cider-fuelled end – we’re talking ‘Isn’t Anything’ and ‘You Made Me Realise’ era My Bloody Valentine – hyperactive drums, waves of distorted guitar and bass – with a big nod towards Swervedriver particularly in terms of that mix of grungey guitars with warm, widescreen melodic washes – and the dissonant wanderings of Sonic Youth. Yes!

    The stage is minimally set up, no backdrop just some big amps and white light and occasional strobes. The 3 piece line up in formation – bass – guitar – drums in that order – and while they don’t say much, julie deliver a physical and visceral performance. The guitarist Keyan and singer/bass Alexandria vanish quite often either to mess with their pedals or roll around on the floor or whatever. There are long periods of tuning up and re-setting which the band wisely fill with sampled noise and a chance for their unflappable drummer Dillon to loose off some mad freeform drum fills – raising the tension before the next big riff comes in.

    The crowd is definitely a younger demographic although like me there a few veterans of the first wave of 90s Shoegaze but the pop-crazed youngsters are crushing down the front to enjoy a proper mosh – albeit with phones aloft which will make for some very shaky footage. There’s a telling moment in this video of a julie performance where someone does the very 90s thing of stage-diving – albeit the diver is filming themselves as they go down which will probably make for a great Tik Tok vid …kids today eh? That said I like this quote from Keyan in the NME which really endears me to them:

    “If more artists focused on art and music and playing live rather than social media, they’d be just fine”

    It was a literally a blast – very, very loud performance with tons of intensity and attitude and I suspect next time julie come to Manchester it’ll be New Century or The Ritz and don’t sleep on it when the tickets go on sale. They’ve clearly got what it takes to build up an audience and create a certain weirdness and mystique around themselves around them which is very difficult to to do in the 2020s. If they have one shortcoming it’s perhaps the adherence to that My Bloody Sonic Swervedriver template but I suspect they might have a change of direction up their skinny sleeves – and indeed those confrontational between-song noise-fests are an indication of how ready julie are to challenge and face-off their audience – suffice to say the kids seem ready to take whatever julie can throw at ’em.

    Fly julie fly…

  • Dummy & Three Quarter Skies

    Dummy & Three Quarter Skies

    Back in my favourite basement which, once again has been transformed into a sonic cathedral by some adventurous artists

    First up, a nice surprise. Simon Scott, who by day is the drummer with Slowdive – now well into their remarkably successful 2nd act – but is also well established as an artist in his own right with a dizzying array of musical projects and soundtracks to his name. Tonight he performs as Three Quarter Skies who have a new record ‘Fade In’ to play to us. Shoegazers will be in familiar sonic territory however this is a much looser and more lo-fi proposition than Slowdive – Simon fronts a 3 piece band singing and playing guitar and electronics and he’s joined by a simpatico guitarist and drummer who whip up great billowing clouds of noise that reminds of those more exploratory groups in this field like The Telescopes, Spacemen 3 and also the fragile songwriting of the mythical Flying Saucer Attack. It’s loud, enveloping and rather marvellous.

    This is my 2nd time seeing Dummy, who headlined a ‘Mood Swings’ band night in this very venue a couple of years ago and I was very much taken with them and the many musical boxes they ticked with me. They’re back over from LA and getting toward the end of a pretty extensive few weeks schlepping around Europe and beyond. It’s fair to say they look completely knackered – but this doesn’t stop them putting in a brilliantly powerful and idiosyncratic performance – and like the Portishead album they borrowed their band name off – it’s hard to predict the musical ebb and flow they take us on.

    Everyone has keyboards as well as guitars and drums so one minute we get Brian Eno style, ambient interludes and the next minute we’re into My Bloody Valentine guitar bending freakouts, the electro-glide of Curve or the metronomic locked grooves of early Stereolab, Broadcast or Yo La Tengo. On songs like ‘Unshaped Road’ they show that 90s Trip Hop influence as a sweet pop vocal rides over a killer bass riff that could be from Massive Attack. That’s not to say they are derivative or slavishly copying those artists – they have a unique style of their own and they knit a lot of different moods and sounds together and somehow make it all coherent – their track Blue Dada is a good example – it starts very much in that early 90s Too Pure era Stereolab Groop Groove but takes on a strange little life of it’s own and its that sense of surprise in the choice of melody and dynamics that sets Dummy apart.

     

    https://youtu.be/_w8942xcHY4?si=ZQbvcSmusYLmyS9T

    Tonight suggests that Dummy, as good as their records are, are a band that really need to be seen live to really get what they’re about – so if this hard working band come to your town don’t pass up the chance to see them bring the noise.

     

  • deary

    deary

    This is the (all lower case) deary’s first gig in Manchester and there’s a full basement and a definite sense of anticipation, I’ve certainly been looking forward to this one. It’s hard to talk about this band without mentioning their influences which, as part of the Sonic Cathedral roster, they wear loud and proud. Yes they do sound a lot like Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine but really, by 2024 those bands have become as influential as Joy Division, The Cure, Can, Kraftwerk, The Velvet Underground, Love and The Doors were on previous generations of shy Indie kids. The fact is, a lot of young bands have embraced the pejorative ‘shoegazing’ tag and are running with it and making it their own – and unlike the 1st wave of shoegazers there are no NME journalists demanding they stop and be more like Guns N’ Roses (this actually happened).

    Let’s just accept that the NME journalists and Ladrock cheerleaders lost – Shoegaze/Dreampop is firmly established as a genre – but a template and jumping off point rather than a set of rules (aside : I’m on a Canterbury Scene Facebook group which eternally ties itself in knots debating what is, and what isn’t ‘Canterbury’ like some creaky old arts committee deciding what can be allowed into the catalogue raisonné – it’s both tragic and hilarious – I suspect the same goes on with Shoegaze/Dreampop). In which case, it’s no good just having some FX pedals, nice guitars and ethereal vocals – it becomes about the songs and fortunately deary have songs to burn and melodies to melt your heart.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-RgOyTrYlE

    I’ve loved their two EPs so far their self titled debut and the latest ‘Aurelia’ are magnificent and we get highlights from both tonight. They also have presence and a touch of magic about them and as they start their set with the aptly named ‘Heaven’ and get into their stride there’s definite intensity to them which crackles through the room. Brilliantly, the audience is rapt and it’s one of those nights where there’s nobody nattering and everyone seems to be hanging on every minute – even when they’re tuning up for the next song as if we all know we’re witnessing something very special.

    deary’s secret weapon is rhythm and the core of the group, Dottie & Ben are joined by an excellent drummer and bass player who bring that to the fore even more than on their records and it’s a joy to watch them at work – it reminds me of when My Bloody Valentine veered toward dance music on ‘Soon’ and maybe Massive Attack’s songs with Elizabeth Fraser – deary have yet to make an LP but maybe that’s something they might expand on. A stunning gig that flew by in a heartbeat – can’t wait to see where they go next.