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Just Mustard - Frank (Aphrodite Lion Bed Made of Flowers Remix)

It’s been a very very long time since we posted any new work by Aphrodite Lion, even though we have half-written and demoed some songs. It is has even been a couple of years since we posted anything to this tumblr account. Does anyone even use tumblr anymore?

Anyway a couple of weeks ago Just Mustard posted stems to their wonderful 2019 single Frank so I decided to give a remix ago. Arrangement-wise I kept the structure and dynamics similar but just retained the vocals and used strings in place the bass and main guitar riff. It was also the first track I fully complete in Ableton live having always used Pro Tools in the past.

If you haven’t hear the excellent original the video is is embedded below.

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Hot Hot Hot!!! - The Cure live in Hyde Park, London – Saturday 7th July 2018

I am not sure what I was doing on 9th July 1978 but on that night in The Rocket in Crawley The Cure played their first gig under that name, after having previously been known as Malice and Easy Cure. Of the original 3 piece band from that night only inimitable front man Robert Smith has lasted the full 40 years with Michael Dempsey lasting only a couple of years and Lol Tholhurst infamously being jettisoned around the Disintegration era. Of the other 4 members on stage tonight bassist Simon Gallup has racked up over 35 years so it would be churlish to discount him in anyway, keyboard player Roger O’Donnell has come and gone a few times since the late eighties, and even drummer Jason Cooper has over 20 years and 4 studio albums under his belt. So even though it is 22 years since I last saw The Cure play it is only Reeves Gabrels that is a newbie for me.

Anyway now that I have that history lesson out of the way it’s back to the scorching Saturday evening in Hyde Park. After experiencing the colour of the London Pride parade and joyous-jingoism of the England quarter-final victory over Sweden what better way to spend an hour than in the 30 degree sun watching a black-clad Interpol blast our a fairly impressive greatest-hit set. Was it style or madness that kept Daniel Kessler in a suit & tie for the duration while I could feel the factor 50 melting on the back of my neck?

Unfortunately the logistics of the site didn’t allow me to get to the other stage to see Ride but I did catch a blast of Lannoy Point in the posh portaloos. It goes without saying I was here to see The Cure so I got into a decent spot in front of the Great Oak stage and waited for them to appear. It was Disintegration opener Plainsong that got the evening off to a rather low-key start with its broad brooding synthesised strings. Familiarity dictated a rapturous response and the tone was set. What followed was wave after wave of musical euphoria : Pictures of You, High, A Night Like This, The Walk and The End of the World: the only song the played that was released after the mid-nineties.

If that wasn’t enough to get the serotonin flowing then how about Lovesong, In Between Days and Just Like Heaven with only the Head on The Door side 1 closer Push not a genuine indie-pop classic? They slowed things down with If Only Tonight We Could Sleep for Kiss Me which marked a change in the tone of the set to some longer and more aggressive guitar heavy songs like A Forest Shake Dog Shake, Fascination Street and even their contribution to The Crow soundtrack Burn which had a few people scratching their heads. They kept up the guitar attack with the wah-wah heavy Never Enough, the sprawling From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea and the ever wonderful Disintegration before they departed for a short break.

If the preceding 19 tracks weren’t enough you know they were going to cram as much into the encore before the strict curfew hit at 10:30. Just to get things going the lashed off 5 more hits: Lullaby, The Caterpillar, Friday I’m In Love , Close to Me and Why Can’t I Be You? Robert even abandoned his guitar for the last 2 and did an approximation of “a 59 year old indie rock star in giant boots dancing “. He certainly hasn’t retained the exuberance of Simon Gallup who spent the evening running around the stage in ripped skinny jeans with his pink bass slung low. Before the final run of songs Robert gave a brief but touching nostalgic intro about the last 40 years before setting the time machine for 1978/1979 for Boys Don’t Cry, Jumping Someone Else’s Train which morphed into Grinding Halt. 10:15 Saturday only arrived a few minutes later than its title. It was left to their debut single from December 1978 to finish the night: Killing An Arab.

And that was it 40 years of much in 2 hours, replete with the setting summer sun and stunningly apposite visuals. Given that The Cure musical output in the last 25 years has been limited to four patchy albums from which only one song got an outing tonight, this definitely was an exercise in nostalgia but one that hardly could have been any better (well maybe in they’d played something from Faith & Pornography!).

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The Breeders live in Vicar Street, Dublin - Sunday 27th May 2018

The Breeders played in Dublin 2 weeks ago today. I was there but forgot to write a review. Suffice to say it was great. Here is the setlist:

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Fuck You, Manchester – Stella Donnelly live in the Workman’s Club, Dublin – Friday 25th May 2018

Friday 25th May 2018 may go down in Irish History for the hammering of yet another nail in the metaphorical coffin of Catholic Ireland, but for me it will always be the day I fell in love with Stella Donnelly. Sure her Thrush Metal EP was good and caught my attention from the first listen but it only hinted at the talent, wit and swearing that is the full Stella experience.

I had never been at a seated show in the Workmans before and feared a sedate as well as sedentary evening. From the minute Stella hit stage with her guitar and promised 45 minutes of swearing I knew that wouldn’t be the case. Sure opener Grey was sweat but when the introduction to You Owe Me involved an explanation about the Australian beer brand VB that changed. She followed it up with Seasons Greetings a song about the travails of family Christmases. Boys Will Boys, with it delicate subject matter of sexual assault, was intense and for the first time on the night she showed off her soaring vocals. Her potty-mouthedness returned for Talking which was about “polishing a relationship turd” and when got her way through the falsettoed chorus of new song Lunch she gave the middle “Fuck You” finger to Manchester saying she played it in tune for the first time in Dublin. I am sure she says that to all cities.

After the show I was reading and listening to a lot more about Stella. It seems her dad was a big Billly Bragg fan. I am not sure how directly that influenced her but certainly the solo show(wo)manship, the witty between song banter and the mix of song themes are certainly comparable. Compared with Billy’s limited Essex drawl Stella’s voice is out of this world. She certainly showed this off to great effect of her cover of Basement Jaxx’s Good Luck.

She introduced Mosquito as the only love song she will ever right and explained that she was too coy to sing in front of her Welsh mother and grandmother given the lines about vibrators and cake. She did get to show of her own Welsh accent talking about Thrush Metal while plugging her merch. She finished the night with Mean To Me which involved a soaring pseudo sad violin solo. Unfortunately that was it. I can’t wait to see what Stella does next. I am sure it will be spectacular,

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Planes Over the Skyline- Swervedriver live in O2 Academy Islington, London – Friday 18th May 2018

Prior to Friday night I’d only ever been to two gigs in London which is surprising given how easy it is to get there from Dublin and more importantly almost every band plays a night in London. So having gone to gone to see Buffalo Tom last year I was back in Islington 11 months later to see another of my favourite bands from the 90’s, Swervedriver, giving Raise and Mezcal Head the full album treatment 25 years later. I did see Swervedriver back in 1993 in the Rock Garden in Dublin, a month or two after Mezcal Head was released. I don’t have much memory of it other than my mate and me felt they had phoned it in a little. It didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for them one bit though and the C90 I had with Last Splash on one side and Mezcal head on the other almost wore out from being on my Walkman throughout my college days and beyond.

So it was I found myself being searched by bouncers last Friday night going into the modestly sized in O2 Academy in Islington (think a bigger version of the Button Factory) along with a load of other middle-aged guys. The show was billed as a two-parter with Raise up first. After All Tomorrows Parties faded out Adam & Jimmy were soon wrangling the familiar distorted tones out of their guitars for open Sci Flyer. Drummer Mikey Jones has been in place since 2011 but Ben Ellis from Iggy Pop’s band was standing on bass for this tour.

I think it is safe to say that Raise was the appetiser here. While it is a good album, and certainly had the guitar sound and attitude in place from the get go, it doesn’t have the songs that Mezcal Head has. It really is the singles that stand out so it took until the third song, Son of Mustang Ford, before things really hit top gear with us all imagining that we were driving along a desert road in Nevada in a growling muscle car. I remembering thinking Rave Down was a little corny when I first heard it back in 1990 but it has stood the test of time well and is still insanely catchy, as is the rather more insouciant Sandblasted, the final part of the singles triumvirate. For album closer Lead Me Where You Dare they were joined by Terry Edwards on Sax. I don’t think there is any saxophone on the original but it worked well and added it a little variety to the sound.

After a short break it was time for the main event. Mezcal Head would be a career highlight in any band’s repertoire and was certainly the moment when the band found the songs to match sound. From the opening drums rush of For Seeking Heat I was enraptured for the next 50 minutes or so. There were so many high points it seems unfair to choose from them but Duel was definitely one with the band perfectly melding the dynamics, noise and melody with rushes of guitar. Ben played the bass intro to Blowin Cool like he’d be doing it all his life and Mikey thumped the sinister Last Train Satansville into life.

For some reason I have always loved the slightly clumsy lyrics to Harry And Maggie and it still feels good to shout “Maggie Sucks” after all these years. The wah-wah pedals got plenty of action on A Change Is Gonna Come but it was on the epic Duress that the really get to add another texture to the foreboding atmosphere. Unfortunately we knew things were coming close to the end and it was up to the spritely You Find It Everywhere to close out the main set.

With the band constrained for time because of the club on afterwards the encore was to be the full version Never Lose That Feeling with Terry Edwards joining them again after the four minute mark on sax for the sprawling Never Learn part. As I trudged through the carpet of plastic glasses and out past security and a smoking Mikey Jones, back to my hotel I was sure glad I’d made the trip. And it was a trip.

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Free Range Cowbell – Car Seat Headrest live in The Olympia Theatre, Dublin – Wednesday 16th May 2018

In the run-up to the Car Seat Headrest gig in Dublin last Wednesday I realised that I hadn’t been listening to much of their music recently and had no idea what to expect from their show in terms of band line-up or setlist. As such I was pretty bemused the band turned out to be a six-piece with main man Will Toledo sticking to just vocals for the vast majority of the show. Supposedly they are normally a seven-piece but guitarist Ethan Ives was sitting out the tour due to burn-out.

From everything I have read about them Will is Car Seat Headrest, and he was every inch the gawky skinny twentysomething indie kid his music would suggest. From his interaction with the rest of the band it is clear he is calling all the shots and changing the setlist to suit his whims. They first half of the set was low on songs from their recent album Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) with only the cleverly worded  & They Might Be Giants-referencing Cute Thing getting an early outing. They followed that up with very funky cover of Talking Heads Cross Eyed and Painless.

They had restart Maud Gone over a woodblock percussion problem which just seemed unnecessarily indulgent. Percussion also featured heavily Hippie Powers with a couple of free range cowbells on the loose, on being played by a member of the crowd. For Bodys [sic] an Irish Flag got draped over the keyboards. After a run through of Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales will got behind the keys for an extra-long medley of Frank Ocean’s White Ferrari, their own Twin Fantasy (Those Boys) and Do What You Gotta Do which was made famous by Nina Simone although written by Jimmy Webb.

They finished the main set with Nervous Young Inhumans but returned for the encore with Beach Life-In-Death which is really three songs in one over its thirteen minutes or so. Although I enjoyed parts of the gig I never really engage physically or emotionally with the music. Maybe that was something to being seated in a half-empty balcony or because their music and performance gives of an air of aloofness at times.

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The Fourth Way – Grouper live in Unitarian Church, Dublin – Saturday 5th May 2018

Having not seen Grouper (just Liz Harris) live before I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Her music isn’t exactly the soundtrack you’d choose for an ebullient night out. But she obviously has plenty of fans in Dublin after selling out two shows in one night in the Unitarian Church on St. Stephen’s Green. I joined the queue for the early show while the bemused tourists and Saturday night out crowd stared at us in bemusement, wondering if we were in some kind of cult.

So Liz took stage about 19:30 and positioned herself between an upright piano and a table with a mixer and some other accoutrements. She never acknowledged the crowd at any stage and instead spent the next 60 minutes or so laying down an unbroken wall of sound. At various times she sang, played piano, played guitar, adjusted her mixer and popped cassettes in and out of various Walkmen. Needless to say there there was lots of looping, processing and reverbing. At certain times it veered in the unpleasant sound of digital distortion but for the most part it was mesmerising, and a lot more intense that her current Grid of Points album.

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From Little Acorns – Xeno & Oaklander live in BelloBar, Dublin - Friday 27th April 2018

My April deluge of gigs came to an end in a basement in Portobello on Friday night with a blistering set from Brooklyn based electronic duo Xeno & Oaklander. For the evening Liz Wendelbo has a couple of Roland synths (SH-101 & RS-09) to play with while Sean McBride tinkered with what I assume were modular synths judging by the amount of patch cables he had to work around to twist the various knobs and buttons which altered the oscillating delights coming from his boxes of tricks.

As on their records they shared vocals duties, with Liz taking the bulk and being a far more convincing performer with her curious French lit to her voice and her black & red stage attire. I must admit that I have no idea what songs they played and spent the set doing a very limited approximation of dancing (moving head and tapping foot in time with the music). We got little more than a few bonsoirs between songs with their arpeggiators doing most of the talking.

I did note that when they came back for an encore they played their 2016 single Marble and a couple of other songs which went down as well the main set. I believe they have a new album on the way shortly which I’ll be keeping an eye out for.

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Take a Mulligan – Juanita Stein live in the Eastside Tavern, Dublin – Sunday 22nd April 2018

My fourth gig in six days was a bit of surprise. I knew Juanita Stein was touring with Bryan Ferry and playing in Dublin. I had no interest in seeing Mr. Ferry so thought I would miss out. Then a Juanita Stein gig popped up in my Bandistown in the Eastside Tavern. Even though I drive by it every day on my way to work the location didn’t register with straight away. The last time I was upstairs in 104 Lower Leeson Street it was Mulligans and I was part of the winning team in the UCD Civil Engineering Society table quiz for the second year in a row. That was even before Juanita was in Waikiki, never mind Howling Bells.

The Eastside Tavern is quite a intimate venue, even so the Sunday night crowd was sparse and a bit reticent. Juanita and her band paid no mind to this and gave us a blistering set. Starting with the catchy as fuck Dark Horse from her America album, she followed it up with the insidious Someone Else’s Dime and her Flowers fuelled new single Forgiver. With an second guitar in the line-up her sound was a lot more forthright than when her I saw as a three-piece back in October.

After a couple of more songs from America: the slower countryish I’ll Cry and the guitar solo sporting Florence, she dipped back to the Howling Bells debut album for the delicious The Night Is Young. Her bum chord on the intro went barely unnoticed.

After one more track from America, Black Winds with its guitar freak-out, she debuted a trio of new songs from her forthcoming second solo album Until The Lights Fade which is due at the end of August: Cool, Easy Street & Get Back to the City. She explained the inspiration for some of them and confessed it was good to be able to rock after the sedate Bryan Ferry gigs. The new material certainly packs a much harder punch than America.

Speaking of America the title track was up next and felt very sedate after the preceding songs. The set was due to finish with atmospheric It’s All Wrong but after much entreating by the crowd she played an unprepared cover of Johnny Cash’s A Thing Called Love. Her bass didn’t even attempted to play along and left the stage but the guitarist and drummer manage some nice improvised accompaniment. All told it was a seriously good show and reinforces the fact that this lady needs a bigger audience.

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By The Time I Get to Phoenix – Courtney Marie Andrews live in Whelans, Dublin – 20th April 2018

For some reason I expected Whelans to rammed when I got there on Friday, given how high Courtney Marie Andrews star seems to be ascending at the moment, what with network TV appearance is the states and rave reviews all round for her sixth album May Your Kindness Remain. It turns out the gig wasn’t even sold out, just convincingly full.

When Courtney hit the stage with her four piece backing band she looked even inch the star with flowing her flowing white dress and cactus earrings. She started with the slow and deliberate Long Road Back To You on which guitarist Dillon Warnek got the first of many chances to show off his chops with some deft slide work. After the sarcastic love song I've Hurt Worse she switched up the tempo for the big sounding Two Cold Nights in Buffalo.

The set was heavy on number from May Your Kindness Remain like the sing along Rough Around the Edges but she did back into extensive back catalogue regularly like on the aching Near You which had a blistering guitar solo at the end. She switched to keys for a few numbers including the delicate Let The Good One Go and Kindness of Strangers, which is probably a close as she gets to pop-song with its catchy melody, cooing backing vocals and memorable guitar riff.

She switched back to for How Quickly Your Heart Mends, and then let Alex Sabel’s bass take the lead gently funky and angry Border. The equally jaunty Sea Town even resulted in an outbreak of dancing on the cramped stage. Courtney abandoned her altogether for May Your Kindness Remain, arguably the high point of the night. From the hymn like intro every note was perfect and Courtney put everything into every note. She picked up an electric guitar to finish out the main set with brooding Took You Up and bouncy, soulful and unreleased Warning Sings.

She returned for the encore with Dillon Warnek and told a story about touring Ireland last year before playing Honest Life. The rest of the band returned for previous single Irene which got a big warm reception. Opening act Matt Davidson from Twain joined them on set closer Willin’, a cover of a Little Feat song (no me neither). It was playful and fun with the vocals being shared around between them all. And that was it. My third gig on the week and the finest yet. I’m sure we are all going to hear a long more of Courtney in the years to come. I’ll be listening.

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Extra Sweet Symphony - The Unthanks live in The Abbey Theatre, Dublin – Wednesday 18th April 2018

The Unthanks returned to Dublin this week for two show as part of the Musictown festival Billed as MusicTown: The Unthanks with the Orchestra of Ireland, they were also joined by sparkly conductor Charles Hazlewood. The Unthanks has done a short orchestral tour in the UK last year but never made it to Ireland so it was good to have the opportunity to see and hear how it would work.

I think the last time I was The Abbey was for some Shakespeare and certainly had never been at a musical performance there. In retrospect buying tickets in the middle of Row C was probably a bit of mistake and being a bit further back we might had a bit more perspective. The night was split into two six song sets with an interval in between. Becky & Rachel were front and centre, either side of the conductor, with the orchestra seated behind them and Adrian McNally off to our left on piano. Niopha Keegan and  Chris Price also got an occasional look in over to our right.

The sets featured a mix of songs from the albums with a cover or two thrown in. After Gan to the Kye we got the amazing title track from their Mount The Air album with a gentleman called Niall O'Sullivan providing the amazing trumpet part and the ladies go to show-off their clog dancing skills. Foundling, also from Mount The Air, was the other highlight from the first set and certainly pulls at all the emotional heart strings.

In the second set Lucky Gilchrist’s driving piano certainly perked everything up a notch or two, before the more downbeat At First She Starts, Madam and the soothing Flutter. They finished the second set with their version of King Crimson’s Starless, which is certainly shorted and had orchestration instead of Robert Fripp’s guitar. Without the orchestra ever leaving the stage Rachel & Becky left and rejoined the stage for a reprise of Mount The Air which also featured a return of the clogs.

While the orchestral arrangements were certainly powerful and mellifluous I am not sure they added a lot to The Unthanks already incredible sound. I was just glad to have the chance to see them live again.

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But Have You Got Me? – The Streets live in The Olympia Dublin - Tuesday 17th April 2018

I distinctly remember buying Has It Come to This on CD Single back when it first came out in 2001 so I am not sure why I never saw The Streets play in the 17 years between then and now. So last Tuesday, sitting up in the Circle, was my first opportunity to see Mike Skinner and his crew in action. From viewing the social media posts from the Monday evening, particularly the videos of Mike diving from the boxes into the crowd, it was clear this was going to a lively, celebratory affair.

Mike didn’t waste any time and went into the crowd during opener Turn the Page, and around me more or less the whole circle area stood up and stayed that way for the nigh. Mike was backed up by guitar, bass, keys & drums as well Kevin Mark Trail on vocals. The guitar was played by Rob Harvey, formerly of The Music, who featured on Computers and Blues and was in The. D.O.T. with Mike. Sometimes during the first song or two at a gig the sound is sub-optimal until they get the mix right. Unfortunately it took about half the show to get it right on Tuesday, firstly with the bass overpowering the mix and then the whole mic breaking up.

With the energy on stage, as well as the bad sound, the vocals were pretty lost too. Maybe I’m expecting too music to be able to hear Mike’s lyrical dexterity in the live context but I for large parts of the show all vocal & musical subtly was lost. The hits did come thick and fast though with Let’s Push Things Forward, Don’t Mug Yourself & Has It Come to This? all making early appearances. They did drop the pace for the numbers like Never Went to Church where Rob switched to acoustic guitar. I’d never realised before then how much the song owes to Let It Be.

It think the sound problems reached their nadir about 8 songs in on It’s Too Late so by the time Going Through Hell came along things were sounding much better and Rob got to show off his vocal skills why Mike dowsed everyone in Champagne. They finished the main set with Dry Your Eyes, which got to number 1 back in 2004. Somewhat fittingly / ironically the band played (Everything I Do) I Do It for You as the intro, which holds the UK record for longest unbroken number 1 record.

The encore started a bit messy with short blasts of a couple of songs from Mike’s The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light project: Your Wave God’s Wave God & Open the Till, as well as quickly abandoned Boys Will Be Boys. Reverting back to hits we had Weak Become Heroes which had a very different arrangement including a funky guitar part and a long outro. Blinded by the Lights brought the crowd right to the boil before the boiled us over with Fit But You Know It. Fit..has always been a bit cringeworthy but they spiced it up on the night with bit of War Pigs and  Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor while Mike explored the crowded further. So a fairly mixed bag of greatest hits, designed for a Saturday Night our than a chin-stroking Tuesday night tosser like me.

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You Give A Little Love – Goat Girl live in The Grand Social, Dublin – Friday 13th April 2018

It was bright last night when I was going into The Grand Social and walking through the smoking area into the venue. For some reason this reminded me of seeing The Thermals when they played in Dublin in 2009. The gig was right in the middle of summer, 19th June, so when we left it was still bright. Maybe The Thermals were on my mind because they announced their split this week. If you never listened to them now is the time. There are 7 albums of melodic punky alt rock to choose from.

Anyway back to the future. First up was Montauk Hotel, a Dublin band I had heard but never seen play. Their sound was had  an eighties indie-pop vibe, with Shell Dooley’s guitar iridescent with chorus and delay. The first 4 fours songs: Wait, Black Dress, recent single Hands and Dust, were pleasant enough but didn’t really stand out, and singer Claudia Verdecchia’s melodies didn’t really cut through. Things improved greatly in the second half of their set particularly when the Rat pedal got engaged, such on the pounding outro of Stains and on the blasting Disorder. Neither of these songs are on the singles / EPs they have released to date but hopefully mark a sonic path they will follow more of in future.

I guess Goat Girl are a close to an indie next-big-thing as 2018 has provided. The London contemporaries Shame night disagree but they are not for me. I have really like all the singles they released to date but must admit I haven’t got my head around their sprawling debut album yet. The stage was festooned with papier-mâché goat heads and was rather jammed as their four-piece was expanded to six with a violin player and a gentle almost hidden stage left adding some synth.

Much like their album their set was sprawling with around 17 songs. They kicked off with the vicious Burn The Stake which really showcased Lottie’s booming voice. The sinisterness continued with the violin-heavy Creep and the foreboding Viper Fish. The jaunty stomp of Cracker Drool upped the tempo somewhat but the girl’s angular post-punkish sound has frequent shifts in tempo and style, even within their short songs.

Recent single The Man as close as they get to straight forward pop-song. At the end of the song all the band sat down while we had a short video. Next up were both parts of I Don’t Care, showcasing very different approaches. Scum, with its catchy riff and stomping beat was another short sharp post-Brexit shock. After Scream, Crow Cries was driven along by Rosey’s pounding tom drums while Lottie’s, Ellie’s and Naima’s vocals all melded together, much as they did on Mighty Despair which followed.

Second from last we has a version of Tomorrow from the Bugsy Malone soundtrack. It is not one of the songs I remember from the movie (You Give a Little Love or My Name is Tallulah mightn’t have worked as well though). They ended the night on the suitably seedy Country Sleaze which resulted a small mosh pit in the front of the crowd. And that was it, no encore or anything like that. There is definitely something quite enthralling about Goat Girl but it’s quite hard to put your finger on exactly what it is. I guess I’ll have to keep coming back for more until I figure it out.

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Shotguns Under The Futon – Jessica Lea Mayfield live in Whelan’s Dublin – Monday 9th April 2018

I always get a little embarrassed when artists arrive from overseas to end up up playing to a small crowd. And the crowd in Whelan’s on Monday night was sparse, especially during opener’s Leila Jane’s. When Jessica Lea hit the stage the first thing that took my attention was her colourful attire: a pink ushanka-hat with  “please don’t pet me I’m working” bag and a mushroom bags on it. This topped an outfit which comprise need colourful Doc Martens and an large mumu style dress covered in butterflies. Oh and don’t forget the elaborate eye make-up.

Now that is out of the way, on with the music: so the band set up was just her on guitar and vocals with a drummer chase, who was various described as her father, mother & daughter throughout the night along with a running about leaving 20 years ago to get a pack of smokes and never coming back. There were plenty of between song giggles on the night as Jessica, at her own admission, was pretty high. Opener Wish You Could See Me Now, from, her recent Sorry Is Gone album, was a good barometer of the rest of the set with her distorted chorused sound from the LP to the fore (her pedals were a Varidrive, Boss Digital Delay and an old Boss Chorus Ensemble if you are into that kind of thing).

There were 3 more songs in this format: WTF, Meadow and Offa My Hands before she switched for a few solos ones: Nervous, Kiss Me Again and the very well received Standing in The Sun. She switched to a Baritone guitar for Oblivious when added to the sludgy alt rock sound, although the absence of a bass guitar would occasionally leave gaps in the sound, especially when she would solo.

The scuzzy guitar sound continued through her weed anthem, Pure Stuff, and the poppy Sorry Is Gone, after which she managed a sneaky vape. At one point she also switched to a kind of valley girl voiced alter ego Vanessa to introduce her songs. She finished he main set with Do I Have the Time, which she had to start twice, before going to hid behind the curtain at the side for a minute before returning solo for an encore of the damn fine Safe 2 Connect 2. It was a great set, with the only downer being the small crowd. Hopefully if she returns to our shores it won’t be on a quite Monday night.

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Call me Ishmael - Gurr live in Whelans, Dublin – Saturday 7th April 2018

I have a confession to make: I am not convinced at all by Shame. I understand the attraction and what they are trying to do but it just doesn’t connect with. So I had no intention of going to see them play in Whelans last night until I found out Gurr were supporting them. I have loved their trashy take on indie-pop since I first heard Walnuss back in 2016.

So I was there, almost front & centre when Andrea & Laura hit the stage and tore straight into self-same Walnuss. As well as both playing guitar that ladies shared vocals, while their bassist and drummer kept things tight. I tried to sing along but my German is worse than my ability to carry a tune. They were excited about their first Dublin show although they explained that had played in Bundoran last year at the Sea Sessions festival.

They kept the tempo and energy up with the screams of Computer Love, the dynamic shifts of Diamonds and a new song that was written on the set list as Sorry Inc. Laura ended up playing part of Don’t Go To School on her knees and Laura managed to know down the microphone during Free. The ladies were smiles throughout, clearly enjoying every moment. This readily transferred to the growing, appreciative crowd.

They did a short interpretation of Gwen Stefani’s Hollerback Girl as intro before going bananas on Rollerskate. After another new songs which was on the set list as Middleton the played another ones of my favourites #1985 which is all about underage drinking and fucking around. Even though I grabbed a copy of the setlist from the stage at the end I have no idea what the penultimate song was called, although Laura did introduce it as “Another German Song”, even though we probably wouldn’t notice!

They finished with a blistering version of Helter Skelter which again had Laura shredding on her knees. And that was that. Easily one of the best open acts I have seen in year, even though there was no Moby Dick. Hopefully they’ll get to play at headlining slot in Dublin next time out. See you there.

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Every Day is a Bank Holiday Weekend - Alex Lahey live in The Grand Social, Dublin – Sunday 1st April 2018

Between Easter, April Fool’s Day and the Division 1 and 2 Football League finals in Croke Park I’d had a busy day before I even got to the Grand Social last night. I’d made an extra special effort to get there early to see Lazy Day who I’d been listening to for a while. Of course they (she) had already started by the time I got in but I think it was only the first song, Disappear. For the evening Lazy Day was just frontwoman Tilly Scantlebury with her guitar and chorus pedal playing the songs as she had originally written them in her bedroom. Despite the very sparse crowd she did her best to engage in between song chat. The set was short and as well as the aforementioned Disappear also feature Bill, current single Weird Cool & recent single Hiccup.

There was no messing around with Alex Lahey. She and her 3 back-up boys hit the stage in the relative darkness and tore into album title track I Love You Like a Brother for all they were worth. When we featured the album in our 2017 best of I said Alex Lahey takes a route-one approach with big melodies and big guitars.  This was certainly true last night with barely a moment to pause for breath between the sing alongs. The set was heavy on I Love You…but we got a couple of songs from her debut B-Grade University EP: Ivy League and You Don't Think You Like People Like Me. They also tried out a new song which may or may not been called Don't Be So Hard on Yourself or perhaps Boxing Day which was mentioned a few times in the lyrics.

Even more intriguing was a straight and breakneck speed cover of Avril Lavigne’s Complicated which worked surprisingly well. All told it was great show: all the hits, a reasonable amount of banter and non-stop energy despite the small crowd. The band were flying back to Melbourne after the show so they are probably still in the air. I think I will still be signing  Every Day's the Weekend long after they land.

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Easter Vigil – Big Thief live in Whelans, Dublin – Saturday 31st March 2018

It’s been a slow start to gigs for me in 2018, with my Easter Saturday outing to Whelans being only the fourth of the year, with 3 months already gone. Thankfully the next few weeks and months are chocker and what a better way to kick it all off than with the sublime Big Thief making their Dublin debut with a pair of sold out Easter concerts in Whelans.

When I arrived it was hard to tell opener Clementine March was on stage such was the chatter of the crowd over rather anemic French-flavoured indie pop. Such it the lot of the support act I suppose. So first surprise for me when Big Thief hit the stage is that they were a three piece. Adrianne confirmed later in the show that guitarist Buck Meek was with them in spirit and was still in the band. A quick google reveals he is working on solo stuff with an album due out in May.

Second surprise was the amount of new material they played. With two stunning albums released in the last 2 years, 12 months apart, I wasn’t expecting a set half-filled with even newer material, but so it was. In fact the opening three songs: Shoulder, Those Girls & Magic Dealer (my guesses the titles from a half-glimpsed setlist and other info online) were all new. Despite some very minor sound issues they were a stunning intro. While undoubtedly Adrianne is the star of the show, both vocally and on guitar, both James Krivchenia’s expressive drumming and Max Oleartchik’s unusual melodic bass playing, were so apposite with her every move they were almost operating as one.

Things got a lot more familiar with the squalling into of Shark Smile and the crowd really perked up for a sing along with Masterpiece. I have been in thrall to Mythological Beauty since I first heard it, even more when I learned the autobiographical background to it. The performance on the night didn’t disappoint and lots of love was exchanged between the band and crowd in the minutes after it finished.

There were some more new songs to follow including one called Orange that Adrianne performed largely solo. Adrianne got to show off her guitar chops soloing on Real Love, easily covering from Buck’s absence. After somebody throwing a pair of men’s pants onto James’ drums they finished the main set with another new song on which the boys seemed to lose their way towards the end or maybe they were just in awe of Adrianne’s performance like the rest of us.

The encore was a very generous and enthusiastic fives songs including a rocking Humans and big sing along with the intro to Paul. Pretty Things was delicate as was the final new song of the night. They closed with Mary which is one of the deftest songs in their considerable arsenal alchemically mixing melody & poetry in equal parts. I’m finding it hard to remember the last time I was as convinced of a band’s total artistry as Big Thief. Superlatives won’t do Saturday night’s show justice.