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Monkey Swallows the Universe / Champion Kickboxer / Slow Down Tallahassee / Bon Bon Club
Fuzz Club Sheffield
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Article
written by Matt H
Dec 22, 2007.
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Apparently made up of a couple of Long Blondes and a Slow Down Tallahassee, the Bon Bon Club are clearly something of a Sheffield scene in-joke, but a pretty good one. From this short set their stock in trade is bass 'n percussion cover versions, of which the martial version of the Cure's Lullaby sticks longest in the memory.
Slow Down Tallahassee themselves follow. Newly a 3-piece, they've got a new album on the way to follow the magnificent So Much For Love single. But live, not helped by some slightly dodgy sound (not to mention the jabbering Xmas revellers who weren't really there for the bands and kept up a mutli-decibel background chatter all night), they're still a very timid proposition, muffling their melodies and only hinting at the textures they bring to their harmonious indie-pop. There's enough in those hints though to suggest that the album could have the C86 crowd dampening their underwear come the new year.
Champion Kickboxer have no such timidity problems. Belieing their indie-scruff appearance and punk-pop band name, theirs is a stately stage presence - the tone set with a staid and straight-faced rendition of O Tannenbaum! They recently shared a stage with Damo Suzuki and there's a Germanic meticulousness to their careful harmonising, artpunk guitar and synth and stopclock rhythms. Curiously though their live performance also brings through the warmth at the heart of the songs. Unusally difficult to lump together with any other bands; on the evidence of this and their excellent new Candlepower EP, by rights they ought to be the next big thing out of Sheffield. But they're probably to good for that...
Monkey Swallows the Universe definitely won't be. Not because of any lack of ability, but because they're unfortunately going on an "indefinite hiatus". So while not quite a farewell gig, they were surfing on a wave of love from friendly local faces - and it's a love they've earned. If you don't know, they have a couple of albums' worth of folky indie-pop distinguished by the sheer quality of the tunes and Nat Johnson's clever, warm and gently amusing lyricism. When I first saw them they'd have given Slow Down Tallahassee a run for their money in the shrinking violet stakes, but a couple of years of increasing adulation and confidence building has them going out on a high, even if they do stumble a bit over a cover of the Grandaddy song that serves as the Screenwipe theme tune. If Nat Johnson's impending solo career steers clear of enough of the Radio 2 playlist trapdoors we'll miss them less than we otherwise might. And you never know, they could be back...
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