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REVIEWS

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

Vivian Girls / The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Betty And The Werewolves / Bridport Dagger
London, Brixton Windmill

Article written by Various Writers - Dec 13, 2008

er, the Bridport Dagger

Like His Excellency at that state banquet in the TV ad, the organisers of tonight's little eventlette are spoiling us. Not only have they put on some background platters, albeit of the sonic kind, that are far tastier than any brown cardboard wrapped in gold tinfoil that that fop on the ad managed but they also have a line-up tonight, fit for a King. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a band fourth down a bill of four as much as the spikey Bridport Dagger. There's a symmetry to their layout (two guitarists, one left handed/one right, with a manic tubthumper between) and even without a bass they deliver an attractive garage proposition. It's now a few weeks after Halloween but the presence of some orange pumpkin lanterns draped across the front of the stage seems somehow apt, as they pound out their spooky rock n roll beat. This theme partially continues with Betty and the Werewolves too. This time it's a one bearded lad, the drummer, and three girls, clad in short dresses and black tights, though the garage jostles with C86 influences as the band switch between bluesy and jangly riffage. Good stuff!

As if that wasn't all enough, a real treat comes up next. Apparently the Wedding Present have had to pull a gig elsewhere in London, so two weeks earlier than I'd expected, I get to see Pains of Being Pure At Heart, after they've been hastily added to this bill. Once again they show why they've been the most talked about indiepop band of 2008, their Smiths meet the Mary Chain marriage of cracking melodies with a Wall of Sound backing, far too good to stand still to. They're so enjoyable, we are able to ignore small details like the fact that the overpacked tiny venue is in danger of flooding, from condensation dripping from the ceiling. (by Paul M)

Cassie, Vivian Girls

South London hosts the Vivian Girls’ first gig outside the US and it nearly didn’t happen; first the Girls missed their plane and then Cassie’s cat pissing on her passport almost prevented her admission to the UK. Thankfully they managed to get (a) through Customs and (b) to Brixton as they were a revelation. Their debut record, although a fine album, doesn’t capture how great they are live (conversely, knowing how great they are live makes subsequent hearings of the record more satisfying). These Girls know how to rock, drawing equally on the fuzzy noise of 80s indiepop and the harmonies of 60s girl group, from the garage thrash of ‘Wild Eyes’ to the cowpunk of ‘All the Time’ and especially the oppressive romance of ‘Tell The World’. It’s loud-to-the-point-of-tinnitus, high energy rock’n’roll, played with oodles of charm and a surgical knowledge of where the ‘rock’ button is in the human body. This is one band where you can believe the hype. (by Ged M)

Links:
http://www.thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com
http://www.myspace.com/viviangirlsnyc