Are Fronds Eclectic? (No, They're Mostly The Same Solo For Hours)

Quite an interesting review, this one.  In short, I felt that the Bevis Frond were quite dull, and seemed to play for an eternity.  I suspect my response was coloured by the fact the only thing I know about them in advance was an LP with Anton Barbeau, and his concise psych-pop songs aren't really indicative of what they do.  Still, they were so likeable on stage, and I respected their approach to dredging up old songs for fans and merch pricing so much, I effectively gave them a positive review...or at least tempered by bile.  Birds Of Hell were honestly great, though, and Shotgun Six are worth a visit.

THE BEVIS FROND/ BIRDS OF HELL/ SHOTGUN SIX, Divine Schism, The Jericho, 26/9/19

Local heavy psych favourites Shotgun Six deal in glassy-eyed riffing, and their main technique is to keep riffing until one of them starts hitting a big gong (not to be confused with hitting a gig bong, though this may also be relevant).  For all their New York cool, what they most resemble is a 60s London blues basement band gone wild.  They’re effectively The Yardbirds, if the yard were a prison yard and the birds were being forced to trudge round it until they’d walked off their heroic drug intake.

“This song’s set in the future.  And Great Yarmouth”.  The epic followed by the bathetic, it’s a perfect summation of Norwich’s Birds Of Hell, who spend 30 minutes squeezing huge emotions into cheap synthesised pop songs, and the bulges where they won’t fit make for fascinating listening.  “Spiderman’s Let Himself Go” is a melancholic rant about life on minimum wage delivered over the sort of cheeky tune Moogieman might come up with in a pensive moment, whereas “Practice Punching My hands, Son” is a breezy ambient wash coupled with an impassioned meditation on the complexities of masculinity that could have been penned by Idles.  It ends with a tossed off gag, which suddenly defuses the tension, as does the fact the vocalist looks like Cheech Marin with Heidi’s hairdresser.  This is the sort of excellent set you want to watch again as soon as it’s finished, to catch the subtleties you missed.

Less of a danger with The Bevis Frond, where one could pop to the bar, the loo and the local Co-Op, and return to find them on the same solo.  For theirs is psychedelia of the Keep On Chuggin’ school, exemplified by expansive blues-based rockers something like Hawkwind down the Sunday afternoon pub jam, where you might be forgiven for thinking a long solo exists to let one of them visit the carvery.  Not that we’re saying long-form rock and adept fretboard flightpaths are bad things, and the band does it with an affable effortlessness it’s impossible to dislike, but the best moment of the set is “He’d Be A Diamond”, a lovely little folky jangle that sounds like Richard Thompson trying to get on the C86 compilation.  Frankly, though, a cult band like this has bought the right to do whatever they want; when was the last time you heard an act with a discography stretching back over 30 years say “we’re going to do a new one” and get a rousing cheer?  So chug on, dear Fronds, you’ve earned it.

What Comes After The Velvet Musical?

Another month, another review, another failure to recall the password for this site.  Hello to both of you who read this.  I was a tiny bit generous to Underground Youth in this, they really weren't very interesting until the last 7 minutes or so.

UNDERGROUND YOUTH/ SHOTGUN SIX/ CIPHERS, Future Perfect, Cellar, 17/5/18

We say it again and again, turn up for the first acts on the bill.  Not to “support the scene”, just to ensure you don’t miss a great band you’ve not heard of.  Those who arrive early tonight get a real treat, an opportunity to tour Ciphers’ charred cathedral of dark-hearted pop.  The first number moves from the brooding menace of Mezzanine-era Massive Attack to the melodic ire of Skunk Anansie, and the set blossoms like les fleurs du mal from thereon.  The sound is vast, but there’s still space for intricately interlocking guitars and chunky unfunk bass a la 23 Skidoo.  A new but deeply intriguing band.

“Just because a record has a groove, don’t make it in the groove”, sang Stevie Wonder, and how right he was (as well as presciently predicting a time when Truck Store would stock more vinyl than CDs).  It’s not just funk and soul that ride on the mighty groove, though, many genres benefit from a deep rhythmic furrow, such as the stoner grunge of Shotgun Six.  They make a huge, satisfying noise for a trio – though the giant gong should possibly count as a bandmember – seismic at the bottom end and psychedelically shimmering at the top.  Our single criticism is that the set is back to front, starting with the two heaviest, most hypnotic tracks.  Scrub that, they should have only played the first two tracks, for 15 minutes each.  The groove abides.

At Nightshift, we don’t believe in style over substance we believe in honesty, quality, talent and – wait, Underground Youth look really cool.  Black leather, floppy hair, stand-up drummer bashing out elemental Mo Tucker/Phil Spector beats, insouciant stares, the lot.  The music is good, too, impassioned yet unruffled scuzz pop with an Andrew Eldritch baritone, that’s not far from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club doing Joy Division.  Their songs start brilliantly, but do tend to stumble to an end when you want them to explode (or go on forever).  The last two numbers, perfectly balanced and building to an inverse stage invasion crescendo, are so good you almost begin to suspect they were fumbling on purpose earlier to ensure a big finish.  That’s a dangerous game, but, on this evidence, one they’re winning.