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SoundsXP Presents

Friday 6th April 2012
All Day BBQ Festival

Sparrow and the Workshop
6 Day Riot
The Nuns
Singing Adams
Y Niwl
Colours
Dignan Porch
+more tbc

The Windmill
Brixton
Price tbc

On Our iPod

Golden Grrrls - New Pop 7”

Chris Devotion & The Expectations - Amalgamation & Capital (album)

Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester (album)

Throwing Up - Mother Knows Best 7”

Howling Wolf - Complete Chess Masters 1951-60

The Ketamines - A Rotten Bond/1 Yr (from Oddbox Singles Club Pt 2)

Cardinal - Hymns (album)

Proper Ornaments - Taking the Gamble Out of Buying 12”

Darren Hayman - January Songs (album)

Various: Marshall Teller EP 12”

Latest Forum Posts

Gig Review

Harlem / Spectrals / The Lucid Dream
Hoxton Bar & Grill

Article written by Paul M - Aug 25, 2010

Harlem

A conversation down the pub prior to this gig led to a chum and I discussing why some pretty ordinary bands make it and clearly better ones don’t. The reason for the debate was that Harlem, despite producing in Hippies one of the albums of the year, had still failed to sell out the far from massive Hoxton Bar & Grill. Compare that with the nanosecond it took Best Coast to put the shutters up at the box office for Cargo around the corner and, well, you get my point.

Thanks to its location, the HB&G is very much a scenester place, so while the early 20 something art and media types who frequent it may not be sporting the fashionista badges of big glasses and £60 wonky freestyle haircuts of six months ago, most don’t particularly appear to be here for the bands. It’s a battle to rouse any sort of reaction from the audience and God knows headliners Harlem deserve one, with their infectious clatterpop, pulled primarily from their two LPs. They’re a three piece, whose performance may border on the chaotic, but there’s no masking the fact that beneath the rough edged pummelling percussion and thrashing guitars, there are quality songs with cracking melodies at their core. The first half of their set features the blonde guy on vocals and the songs have a more direct garage pop feel, and early renditions of Friendly Ghost and Faces should have seen the mosh explode rather than check its shoes. A switch-around with the bandana sporting drummer taking over vocals and guitar sees a switch to a grungy Tex-Mex approach with the Pixies-leaning Gay Human Bones and Someday Soon standouts.

The two warm-up acts were more than decent supporting players tonight. Openers The Lucid Dream have travelled all the way down from Carlisle, which is no mean achievement on a Tuesday night, and get off to a flyer with their first two feedback fogged, jackhammer drummed, numbers. Unfortunately, unlike Harlem later, they forget the basic rule of rock that if you’re going to scorch your tunes with a wall of fuzzy effects make sure there’s a melodic foundation underpinning it all. Twenty five minutes later with only five songs performed (the last a spectacular ten minute psychedelic drone), my delicate little petal like ears are weeping. There's promise in these young Cumbrian pups but a back to basics lesson may be needed.

Spectrals

Spectrals from Leeds on the other hand, does know this rule, and his woozy pop is tuneful enough to get toes-a-tapping and heads-a-nodding. The flame haired fella who goes under this moniker is Louis Jones by day, and he is joined tonight by a backing band who help him find the perfect midpoint between the Ronettes, Everly Brothers and Billy Childish. A ripper rumbling rock n roll number written by the latter, while with the Milkshakes, is one moment where it gets a tad raucous but on the whole it’s relatively restrained – and 7th Date is truly Spectortastic.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/spectralspectral
http://www.myspace.com/theluciddream08
http://www.myspace.com/harlemduh