Delaware Soul

MUNCIE GIRLS/ CASSELS/ KANCHO!, Future Perfect, Cellar, 15/2/17

A few years ago any hipster worth their rosemary-infused artisanal salt was in a bass and drums duo.  That time has passed, perhaps because of fashion’s restless vicissitudes, or perhaps because people realised that economy of musical means demands increased precision, or at the very least a little effort put into arranging.  Kancho!’s two man tirade is built from crisp, incisive drums and rough blocks of bass granite, but they know that simply throwing everything in at once wouldn’t cut the triple strength septum-melting mustard for a full half hour, and have addressed their attentions to hooks, dynamics and slightly silly jokes.  Not that they’re preciously twiddly, any self-conscious mathy opening riff is just a disguise for old fashioned amp blasting, quickly discarded (“It is I, Leclerc; let’s rock!”).  This is an excellent set, possibly the best we’ve witnessed by them...just in time for them to split up.

Not since The Cellar Family has any Oxford-connected band brought the aesthetics of disgust to their music like Cassels.  Another skins and strings duo, albeit one with more intricate fluidity to their pummelling, Cassels ricochet between splenetic ire, mordant humour and defeated resignation, wrestling global and personal politics into punk straitjackets.  At their best, such as recent single “Flock Analogy”, a twitchy tattoo bolsters howled poetry and impassioned broadsides that reveal a burgeoning poetic sensibility.  There are lyrical missteps – describing the world as a “Huxleyan nightmare” doesn’t sound any less sophomoric just because it’s now true – and the set is oddly hesitant and apologetic when it should be declamatory, but Cassels are still something special.

Catch a few lyrics and you’ll realise that Exeter’s Muncie Girls are as politically charged as Cassels, but choose a less abrasive method of delivery.  Their perky punk pop has its roots in C86 fizz, and borrows its fat amped attitude from that early 90s lacuna between grunge’s early influence and Britpop’s colourful trade fair.  Their melodic vocals glide whilst the music canters in a way that resembles a less self-conscious Wedding Present or even a souped up version of The Sundays (The Sundays Before Bank Holiday Monday, probably).  It’s all good bouncy fun, and we can’t say a word against their opinions or general charm, but if Muncie Girls play a better set than Cassels, it’s the latter that have hooked our attention, and will drag us back for another visit.