I walked round the corner to see SEBASTIAN MELMOTH for the first time. I have been listening to their debut cd-r/download album 'Insanities Insanity' for about a year and it has just the right art school feel about it. They were first on at this night promoted by Wasted Youth, no not the legendary band from the 80's but a new cool gig promoter.
Anyway Sebastian Melmoth had announced that this gig would be a celebration of Mandy Taylor's 100th period. Well, why else would you play a gig at the Good Ship?
For tonight's show they were a three piece with the core duo of Mandy and the guy who is never named on the CD or their facebook page and Pete Jordan who I normally see in Clinker. Tonight's set is blessed with a really good sound and they come over like a cross between Slowdive, Bauhaus, Band Of Susans and a little bit of Spacemen 3, with lots of drones and good trippy sounds.
I particularly liked the second song about being so stoned you can't do anything. It went on for what seemed like a never ending trip. They sounded really impressive and are well worth checking out. I'm sure they will only get better as they play more gigs.
That isn't something you could say about the second band on this shoegazing bill, BREITNER, who are a duo who ought to have grown up and not still be singing songs about getting permission notes in their mid 40's. Sad and very bad indeed.
Third on and the best band of the night were FEVER DREAM who are a three piece fronted by a stick thin guy with a wicked forward wedge who looks like the bastard offspring of Feargal Sharkey and Ian Curtis, only paler! The songs are all based upon twitchy rhythms with the drummer working her socks off to keep the sound nice and odd and they have a nice post-rock early post-punk sound about them. Couple that with good songs and a further bout of touring could well lead them somewhere. I always like to see bands where the drummer is telling the guitarist and bass player the chords before they start a new song. Fever Dream are certainly a band to watch out for.
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Finally, on came LEISURAMA who were rather too mannered for my liking. They think they are onto
Their singer seems to think he is the embodiment of Brett Anderson crossed with a unhealthy dose of Morrisey but doesn't even come close to Gene's Martin Rossiter. Ho hum. Needlss to say, they were overshadowed by both Fever Dream and Sebastian Melmoth and that's about all I can say about them.
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