As part of the Roadkill series of events organised by Gizagig.com, to celebrate and promote underground bands in the North, this event at the Basement bar in York’s City Screen was very well attended. Packed to the gills in fact, in what usually serves as a comedy venue, underneath a new cinema off one of the main shopping streets.
OK, so it’s small and the audience is spread out in a long row in front of the stage and it’s a bit like a café bar crossed with a youth club, but at least – according to those who’ve played there – it’s got a better sound than some of York’s more prestigious venues and as a starting place for bands, or for more intimate gigs – it’s fine and dandy.
First up are Red Shift, who’s “Black Ops” EP we reviewed recently. While not really my cup of tea they provide “artcore/dronecore/whatevercore” stuff that the kids up front seem to like, mouthing all the words along with them. A little older than their audience they are probably more aware of the history of bands like “The Pixies” who blast magnificently out of the PA before they come on.
They enthusiasm for what they are doing shows, their nagging, insistent guitars, solid drumming and thumpy bass powering along in songs like “MFTNY”.
For me the best song was the 3rd “Sermon” was introduced with the (delivered) promise that it would that it would involve marching.
I suppose the nearest comparison I could come to would be some sort of mutant hybrid of The Cure and The Wedding Present. There’s something 80’s about it that I can’t quite put my finger on. There’s solid metronomic drumming and they’re tight as a knat’s chuff.
“Stenton” furthers my Wedding Present theory and is good stuff. However, the next song, as have others in the set, suffers from “overlong intro syndrome” OK, so some foreplay’s good, we all know that, but look at The Ramones, who are great, but basically the musical equivalent of a quick leg over – get on, jiggle up and down for a bit, do your bit, turn over, fart and start snoring! What I’m saying is there’s a time when foreplay’s enough (apparently) but usually some sort of conclusion eventually has to be reached for satisfaction, if you know what I mean.
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Red Shift are a band that - as yet – are not quite equal to the sum of their parts – maybe with a little time it’ll come (Oh God – the metaphor continues!)
Next up are Heroic Trio who are introduced as part grunge, part prog rock and part folk. This pretty much sums them up. A trio – if you hadn’t guessed – they deal out the sort of stuff I tend to rate highly – angular pop with catchy hooks, loud guitars and female vocals. As a longstanding Throwing Muses fan this is much more my cup of tea.
“Sugarbeet” is the opener with it’s Led Zeppelin "Kashmir" guitars, acapella bits and a catchy chorus, the girls up front, Sarah and Nich, backed on drums by Ned, clearly enjoy the chance to play a hometown gig in York, being partly based in Nottingham.
Guitars are alternately thrashed and strummed, backed by an excellent rhythm section, putting forward the argument for 3 piece bands as eloquently as Husker Du, The Jam The (early) Cure, Dodgy and later period Throwing Muses – among loads of others – insert your own one’s here as there are many.
They started off as a university band as they tell me later, and are now breaking out into the town scene that York has to offer – luckily they also have their sights set further than the city walls!
“Tarantella” and “Dead or Alive” – also tracks from the “Summertime” EP are further examples of how they are clearly on their way to bigger things. There’s something different about them than most York bands and I hope that their development continues. I’m looking forward to hearing more from them soon.
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