Live: Junior Boys at Manchester Club Academy

Junior Boys
Club Academy
9th June

Ontario, Canada duo Junior Boys are tonight greeted by a small but dedicated crowd at Club Academy in support of their excellent third album Begone Dull Care.

Singer Jeremy Greenspan complains of being as “sick as a dawg” but still produces a sparkling vocal performance while side kick Johnny Dark gets mean and moody on an army of synths and gadgets.

The last time we found the duo at a late night High Voltage session, they were tight, disciplined but worryingly calculated. Two years on, they seem to have loosened up and, although a different proposition to their high-production valued records, the ‘Boys appear energised by their pop-tastic new material.

The funky, 80s soul of ‘Hazel’ is bunged out early on, Greenspan delivering OTT vocal croons over crisp electronics and sharp drumming provided by a head-phoned sessioner.

‘Parallel Lines’ soon follows: it’s drawn-out, chilling atmospherics falling flat with a crowd with eyes on the dance floor. They hit stride with the monotone grove of ‘Work’ before fitting in older gems alongside newer material. Of the latter, ‘Bits & Pieces’ is immaculate synth-pop without the hipster posturing of contemporaries Chromeo, while ‘In The Morning’ (from 2006’s breakthrough album So This Is Goodbye) recieves the biggest cheers of the night.

Ending with a lengthy, guitar-led rock out, Junior Boys hint at a possible change in sonic direction. If you ask us, their electronic pop fits just fine, even if crowd numbers don’t hit the heights or cool value of Domino label mates Animal Collective or Franz Ferdinand.

Written originally for City Life.

Live: The Horrors at Manchester Ruby Lounge

The Horrors
Ruby Lounge Manchester
1st June

Inside the Ruby Lounge this evening there’s a curious mix of grungy teens, original shoegazers and inquisitive onlookers to meet The Horrors' feedback drenched stage entrance. Three minutes of noise later, singer Faris Badwin slouches on stage: stick-insect thin but hair and celeb girlfriend tamed, he’s visibly more comfortable with his colleague’s current choice of sound collage.

Ditching Birthday Party gristle for MBV glissando, The Horrors have transformed into a sharp bunch of songwriters, finally delivering on the dangerous hype that greeted their breakthrough in the summer of 2006.

Inside the sauna-like venue, only the front rows immediately give up to Badwin’s gangly posturing. ‘Do You Remember’ is a colossal, swerve-driving tune propelled by bowl-haired axe man Joshua’s saw-like guitar and ‘Who Can Say’ shows Glasvegas how 80s indie homage is really done (minus the poncy shades and gimmicky stand-up drummer).

Their crowing glory arrives with the epic ‘Sea Within A Sea’ which entwines Krautrock chords within a dank electronic enveloper: meanwhile Badwin wins over any remaining sceptics with measured vocal moans and Nick Cave-inspired introspection. Elsewhere, ‘Gloves’ is a haunting goth dirge, ‘I Can’t Control Myself’ a repetitive, caustic journey into Spacemen 3 drones and Sonic Boom lazerock.

Tucked away in the encore, early gem ‘Sheena Is A Parasite’ cramps things up a notch: a chaotic rock sprawl while a sweat drenched Badwin spiders his way into the arms of adoring front rows. With electronic influences seeping into the bands sonic template, signs points towards an exciting, dance floor friendly future. Energised by a change in label (XL, take a bow) and a broader songwriting outlook, these five odd Southend boys appear in fine shape.

Great to have you back, you little Horrors.

Written originally for Clash Music.

Live: Black Lips at Manchester Academy 3

Black Lips
Manchester Academy 3
24th May

Adored around the globe and with enough indie-rock cred to last them into rehab, Black Lips are a chaotically brilliant live band, or so F&L remembered…

We left the cities Roadhouse venue two years ago having witnessed a tight, sharp, on-top-of-their-game rock group touring their superb Good Bad Not Evil album to much acclaim.

Two years later and they find themselves upgraded to the larger Academy 3 on a gorgeous bank holiday evening. Maybe it’s the sunny weather or the £13 door price, but a distinct lack of pizazz greets the Atlanta four piece onto the stage.

The fist pumping first six rows of the crowd do their best to rouse their heroes, and things begin well with the honky-tonk drawl of ‘Drugs’ and the garage avalanche of ‘O Katrina’: a bass-heavy trawl through New Orleans via Hurricane Katrina.

Bassist and singer Jared maintains a cool demeanour whilst others over-egg their parts around him: to his right guitarist Ian resembles old time rocker Jimmy Nail with his denim and dodgy teeth, while stage left the enigmatic Cole looks incapable to belting anything out: delivering flat, flustered guitar and vocals.

But there’s still something special lurking behind the wasted, heroic chic. ‘Cold Hands’ could be an outtake from classic garage rock companion Nuggets, while ‘Bad Kids’ is a life-affirming ode to youthful rebellion. Elsewhere, new material fails to ignite, but ‘Buried Alive’s comic book horror shows the ‘Lips’ wayward genius.

At the finale fans clamour onstage for a good old boogie: quite a spectacle (we learn later that Cole’s guitar is stolen) but also an ancient stage act that appeared a little, well, desperate. Pack this rock’n’roll circus into a smaller venue and you may have seen one of the gigs of the year, but the feeling just wasn’t there tonight.

Written originally for Clash Music.

Live: And You Will Know Us By the Trail Of Dead in Manchester

And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead...
Manchester Academy 3
April 16th

“God bless Conrad Keeley” reads a text on our mobile minutes after the gig. The And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead front man hasn’t aged a bit since his band’s visceral breakthrough in the mid-90s, and almost 15 years on, he’s leading punk-rock brothers to nightly mass. Tonight Trail of Dead are on fire, catapulting a noisy, rattling hour of new and old tunes. They may look like a bunch of down and outs, but the six piece are still one of the most important touring rock groups alive today.

As expected, new album The Century of Self is well represented and there’s a healthy number of classic Trail of Dead stomps thrown out along the way. New songs are performed with vitality and immediacy; ‘Far Pavillions’ is heavy, druggy psych-rock, ‘Isis Unveiled’ is rocket fuelled punk; Keeley barks cult leader words over post-rock guitars and hell raising instrumentation in a frantic, incendiary outro. Proggy, other worldly lyrics continue to be explored, but with there’s a fresh musical agenda for Trail of Dead these days.

Re-energised after ditching their un-supportive major label, golden oldies ‘Mistakes and Regrets’ and ‘It Was There That I Saw You’ are played with much verve; breathing new fire into their genre-defining bones.

The transformation from the stressed, bored men this writer observed at the same venue two years ago is a revelation. Great to have you back, Trail of Dead.

Written originally for Clash Music. Props to Coterie Music Blog for the Trail of Dead image.