Kong at the Hare & Hounds 28/04/2011

It's Just Noise have put together a corking line up this evening, and one that would give environmentalists obsessed with noise pollution a fit. First up are God Damn, who treat those who have turned up early to a solid set of heavy, bluesy, stoner rock and roll. Opening with their namesake track, the manifesto of sound that is 'God Damn', it's obvious that the crowds ears are going to get a bit of a bruising before Kong even make the stage. There's something of Queens of the Stone Age in their sound, whilst the duel vocals recall the Blood Brothers - to this reviewer at least. Since the last time I saw the Wolverhampton three-piece (at a gig in their lock-up in Wolves last Oct) they've come on leaps and bounds, and despite Thom Edwards' usual antics being somewhat restricted by the tightly packed stage, the songs speak for themselves. And if the rush for free CDs the band were offering is anything to go by, it's an indication that these boys are ones-to-watch.

Next to the stage are &U&I who, for those who don't know, feature 3/4s of the legendary Blakfish. This is the second time I've caught them play since Blakfish's demise early last year. Last time was at the Off the Cuff festival last year, where they received mental support despite having only played a couple of shows with the new material. Tonight the lads are in good humour: "Good evening Birmingham, we're from Sutton Coldfield!" they joke during a pause midway through their set. Certainly the most melodic of the bands on the bill tonight, &U&I know how to write a catchy hook, with latest single 'Stalk this City' a shining example of the bands technical abilities when it comes to writing a good tune. Wary of running out of time, the band bring their set to a close with "the hit," 'Chancer's Paradise' off of last year's debut EP. I still feel it's their best song to date, and I'm pretty sure I caught a few people in the crowd singing along. They're playing the Saturday at this year's Off the Cuff festival at the Flapper, so if you're planning on going make sure you catch them.

Kong are easily the scariest band I've ever seen. Forget the masks Slipknot wear - there's nothing creepy about those rubber faced fools - Kong are the real deal, and are waaay off the chart when it comes to weirdness. Their music is difficult to describe, it's very fucking heavy (expletive necessary), but it's not just noise for noise sake; there's an inventiveness in their music, as well as a sense of humour that makes them absolutley fantastic as a live band to watch. Just like all the best horror movies, you don't want to look, but at the same time you know you need to because otherwish you'll miss guitarist Magpie flashing his arse at the crowd and calling the crowd something along the lines of "turkeyheads", or bassist Lulu's pale body scrawled over in felt-tip pen with the evening's setlist (amongst other things) gyrating at the edge of the stage. Yes, it's confrontational, it's aurally violent, but tonight Kong have the crowd eating out of their hand. Previous singles 'Leather Penny' and 'Blood of a Dove' give the crowd a good reason to (to steal from Willow Smith's vocab) whip their hair back and forth, equally as does the new material, which leaves us with the question just when will they follow up 2009s Snake Magnet?

iLiKETRAiNS at the Hare & Hounds 28/10/2010

The deafening sound of a ships horn heralds the entrance of the iLiKETRAiNS 2010, or I Like Trains as they now like to be know. Gone are the British Rail uniforms and black armbands; the band now clad themsleves as seamen, with rather dashing Officer jackets. Whilst some might see scorn this kind of gimmickery, with 'TRAiNS it's all part of their appeal - and equally as much a reflection of the thematic nature of their music. With their latest record, the band have moved away from the post-rockish, historically-informed sound of their previous records, and instead for the first time looked to the future - particularly the demise of the human race due to it's own ignorance to issues such as global warming.

Tonight the band are clearly on form, playing their set to an almost full Hare. This evening's set comprised mostly of new material from album He Who Saw The Deep, as well as a few older cuts ('Victress', 'A Rook House for Bobby', a rare outing of a (shortened) 'Stainless Steel'). Strangely, no tracks from debut 'Elegies..' were played - not even the early single (and in many ways difining track) 'Terra Nova' showed its epic head, which is a great shame. That's not to deride the new material, which shows the band are more than capable to write softer, more ballad-like tracks, relying less on the wall-of-distortion that is trademark of a lot of their early releases. In many ways tracks like 'A Father's Son' and 'A Divorce Before Marriage' recall their more tender side which came across in their demos prior to Progress Reform.

After the show, I spoke to singer David Martin about the length of time between albums; 3 years is a long space of time between albums nowadays. He was aware that people would think they had nothing left in them, but the gap was more about them trying to create material that they were happy with. And have they acheived that goal? Dave's pleased with the results, and I too have to agree that the band have put together what is a very strong rock record. Yes, it's very different both texturally and thematically than their debut, but I think it's possible to argue that with their latest offering they've become more focused as a band, and as always with iLiKETRAiNS it will be interesting to see where they set sail for next.

Tubelord at the Hare & Hounds 05/11/2009

Maybe it's because it's a Thursday. Maybe it's because it's raining. Or maybe it's because it's Bonfire Night. Somewhere out there a Guy is on fire. And maybe a towerblock too, as I saw a few fire engines surrounding one on the way into Kings Heath. Either way, by 8:30 there's still only about 30 people tops in the second, smaller room upstairs in the Hare. There is another gig on in the room next door, but that seems quiet too. What's wrong with people, £5 for an awesome line up? Words fail me sometimes.
First up this evening are 3 lovely boys from Birmingham who go by the name of Shapes. Not so long ago they released their second EP on Big Scary Monsters, which gives the uninitiated an idea of what they've got in store. They seem somewhat amused by the fact they have never played at the Hare, and despite the lacklustre turn out they play with as much energy as they can muster, but not before asking everyone to stand up and move from the comfy sofas that line the room. "It is a gig after all!" guitarist Steve Bachelor reminds the crowd. This evening the band tend to favour their newer material over the old, which is a shame as their first EP was immense. However, they still treat the amassed with their slabs of spastic prog-metal, launching from the stage into the front row with reckless abandon. Closing with 'You Butcher', I can't help but feel a little let down as they were nowhere near as exciting as they were on my last encounter with them, though I must commend their manners, for they thanked everyone for chosing the gig instead of a bonfire. Bless.

Now, something tells me either Tall Ships are new to this game, or maybe they are just having a touch of really bad luck (I think it may be the latter option): guitar strings break during the first song, keyboard in another, several moments where everything seems (to paraphrase the Shapes song) to be more out of tune than everything else... yet simultaneous to this there are moments of clarity where Tall Ships shine, showing themselves to be a magnificantly forward-thinking and creative outfit (albeit, their choice of clothing may leave a lot to be desired). It's an odd set-up with two facing keyboards in the middle and an assortment of pedals underneath. There are also bits of drum in places other than at the drum kit. It's hard to explain, look on their myspace and you will get a better idea of what's going on. Anyway, the great thing about Tall Ships is that all their songs are built out of loops ie. play a bit of guitar, loop it, play some more over the top and so on. It will be interesting to hear how this translates on record, as tonight some of what they were doing was simply lost in the live setting. Their last song was my favourite simply on the merit of how messed up it was. There was instruments being swapped like wives, a dirty distorted keyboard loop, and the bassist climbed up the PA system to hit a cymbal. They were also joined by Joseph and Sean from Tubelord who helped make even more of a racket and brought their set to a close. I clapped a lot.

Finally Tubelord take to the stage and those in attendance finally act like it's a rock show, getting on their feet and moving forward in the general direction of the stage. The Kingston three-piece work their way through tracks from debut Our First American Friends, and it's upon hearing these tracks live you realise how fun and creative a band they are. I personally felt a little let down by their album, as it didn't for me capture them as acurately as their live show - which sometimes wanders in to the raw and rough around the edges. Yet, it is the live Tubelord which really captivates me. There is something of old Biffy in Joe's guitar riffs, whilst his lyrics remind me of Reuben, somewhat cryptic in places but always anthemic. The subtle use of glockenspiel on a couple of tracks draws the band in another direction, a much more chilled an laid back one, whilst these slower songs are easily balanced out by their bouncy emo-pop in tracks like 'I am Azerrad' and 'Night of the Pencils', the latter of which they sing "three is the magic number" over the final chorus, to much amusement and big smiles. Towards the end of the set Joe decided to read some poetry, and asked everyone to sit down on the floor. Which, strangely, everyone did. There was something a bit surreal about a room of people at a gig sitting on the floor whilst listening to a poetry recital, but at the same time it's touches like this that make Tubelord so special. I did whip out my camera at this point to take a photo but got a little embarresed when Joe pointed at me and told everyone to check out the art student (I wish). And almost as soon as it had begun, it was over, as the gang smash their way through the last song regardless of having broken several strings. And as I stepped out onto Kings Heath High Street with the smell of fireworks in the air, there was no way I could consider that tonight, despite low numbers, anyone had been short-changed.

The Twilight Sad at the Hare & Hounds 26/10/2009

My first impression of the evening was how busy the Hare and Hounds was; the gig room was positively crammed when Goodnight Lenin took to the stage. It seemed that a lot of people had come out to see the local lads play through a highly entertaining set which was a lot folkier than I personally was expecting. I don't mean that in anyway derogatory however, the band clearly have a penchant for writing catchy and emotive music, and I was very impressed by their harmonies. They even threw out a cheeky cover of Kings of Leon's 'Four Kicks', however to call it a cover would be unfair on Goodnight Lenin, who it was clear to hear they had put a lot of thought into their reinterpretation of the piece.

Next up were Manchester-based Mutineers who, despite having a well formed sound, failed to engage with the crowd and recapture those who had wandered off following the end of the previous set. The band obviously wear their New Order/Killers-esque influences on their sleeves, which came across in my favourite of their bunch 'Shadow Kisses', which was a slice of Get Ready era synth-pop. Sadly I felt that they were a bit out of place on the evening's bill, and could easily have shone much brighter on another evening.

Last up of course was The Twilight Sad and, accordingly, the room fills up again. Tonight they were at their most epic, playing an equal mix of classic material from 2007's Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters and new LP Forget the Night Ahead. Opening with 'Reflection of the Television' I was impressed with the sound in the Har, which was much better than when I saw them back in the summer at Hop Farm Festival, enabling every layer of their dense sound to be picked up. Also improved was the general demeanor of the band, whom had seemed unhappy at aformentioned festival, however tonight vocalist James Graham even cracked a funny, joking that he couldn't see Birmingham for the constant cloud being thrown out by the smoke machine, proving that they're not always as miserable as their music may suggest. The lighting was also spot on, providing an apt and dramatic setting for the group - suiting their brooding, cryptic tales which switch effortlessly from beautiful meloncholy to brutal frustration with the touch of a guitar pedal. Vocally, I am left breathless by this band, Graham is easily one of my favourite frontmen of the moment, the highlight of his prowess coming in set-closer 'Cold Days from the Birdhouse', where he holds the melody over little more than a monotonous hum, before breaking into the final refrain of "where are your manners?" framed beautifully by walls of cacophonous, crashing guitar. This was a night I won't be forgetting for a while.

You can buy The Twilight Sad's latest album, Forget the Night Ahead, from FatCat Records