Bueller Shaker

 There are a few extra lines in this review than appeared in the magazine.  Editors gon' edit.

BIG DAY OUT, BIG SCARY MONSTERS, Florence Park Community Centre, 15/4/23

As the delightfully bonkers, chaotic scurf rockers DITZ point out during today’s final set, the Florence Park Community Centre is not unlike a scout hut. One can’t be too precious in a somewhat over-lit suburban room lined with stacks of chairs and darts trophies, and performers and punters leave their egos at the door for this excellent all-dayer, to create a welcoming atmosphere with a pleasingly high musical bar. Things start tunefully, with Cheerbleederz’ cheeky jangle punk, while SUDS are the sort of band who bring their own tape hiss and seven-inch crackle, coming off like Madder Rose without the Velvety drug outlook and Yo La Tengo at their sweetest. Soot Sprite don’t quite hit the same melodic high, but still give us some Mazzy Star fuzziness and soothe our Cocteau twinge.

A few solo acts play in a tiny side room (if this is a scout hut, the second stage is where they store the old tents and Akela’s secret medicinal brandy) the best of which is Oxford’s EB, whose magic realist pseudo-rap is like an alternate reality inversion of The Streets, with a statistical love song coming off like an electro Jeffrey Lewis. “I put some feedback into this intro to annoy sound engineers” she grins, which tells you all you need to know. The incredible liquid steel of Pet Sematary’s voice is also a joy, and when Gaby starts singing a small shrubbery of recording phones spring up round the room.

Neo-emo might be a strange concept – it’s certainly a silly looking word – but Spank Hair wear the badge proudly, turning in a strong sinewy set, whilst also considering which is better, a horse or a donkey: as a pacifist Harry Hill might observe, there’s only one way to find out...pontificate at length whilst tuning. Jack Goldstein is as impressively maximalist as ever, cramming an improbable number of songs into a single segued ultra-minstrel set. As Jack crawls round the floor with water dripping from his clothes we don’t know whether he’s a hyperpop prophet or Margate’s most abstract floor polisher, but we approve.

As the evening darkens and the bar runs dry, the more raucous bands bring us home. Playful punks Lambrini Girls prove that, if you’ve got something important to say, say it incredibly loud, but temper it with a bit of humour (and if you can offer your listeners a wee drink whilst you rant, that helps too). Heroes of the day, however, are Other Half. One definition of a great new band is one that reminds you of lots of excellent acts, whilst not really sounding like any of them. Comparing notes with audience members post-set The Jesus Lizard, At The Drive In, Fugazi, Part Chimp, and Mcluskey are bandied about, but none of these capture the cheery insouciance of the twin vocals nor the 70s rock maelstrom behind the drums. Seek them out. If today’s event was an avant-scout jamboree, excuse us, as we’re off to sew on our new badges for Beer Tasting, Feminist Discourse and Incipient Tinnitus.