Tubelord at The Flapper 26/01/2012

Ah, The Flapper. I've missed you old buddy. Even though it's only been a few weeks since my last visit to its dark underbelly, it feels like a much longer break from my favourite venue in the world. It was last year after all, yeah...? 

As January has been a bit drab gig-wise, you can imagine my excitement to see that Tubelord were back in town, and the day after my birthday too. Fantastic. First up, Pandas and People take the stage. I've been following this Redditch four-piece for awhile now, and tonight is easily the best I've seen them play. A faultless set, which as I joked about with Alex and Tom afterwards saw no problems with their laptop or keyboards falling over! Their set is full of indie-pop nuggets: 'Grab Everything' and 'I Am The Floor' are two particular stand outs for me. Musically they are a hard band to pigeon-hole - at times they are reminiscent of indie-rock greats The Dismemberment Plan (whom they are fans of), but the synth and electronica flourishes point to more diverse inspirations - and it's this attribute that I find particularly attractive about P&P. A new song also gets an airing this evening, and whilst it sounds great it doesn't top the outstanding 'In the Dark.' If you don't listen to anything else off of their streaming album, listen to that one! They may just be the most technically-able band on the scene, but maybe I'm just a gushing fan boy. I really hope they make that push to get their material out there, as 2012 could be their year, and Distorted Tapes is behind them 100%. 

Pandas and People

As the countdown to the 2012 games gets closer and closer, I can imagine Norwich's Olympians are going to gain a lot of accidental hits on their website this year. Totally out of character for me (who usually remembers every band I come across...) I thought I hadn't heard these guys before, but as I started writing this review I realised I had, and that's why some of their songs seemed familiar! A great choice of tour support for Tubelord, Olympians blend of massive pop-hooks and delicate soundscapes is best exemplified in previous single 'Foreign Language'; a soaring pop-rock gem that is reminiscent of Weezer or Clarity-era Jimmy Eat World. Their latest single, 'The Great Gatsby,' is available via the imaginatively titled Olympians Book Club - a set of four singles released throughout 2012 and come stored in a hollowed out book. This kind of geekery gets a massive thumbs up from me, as do Olympians. Good guys, good music.

Olympians

Tubelord

Tubelord are a band who know how to put on a good show, and tonight are on top form as ever. Playing a mix of material from across both their albums to date, and despite latest LP Romance having come out last October, tonight's show still manages to have the sound and feel of a greatest hits set. Opening with the schizophrenic '...Abergavenny', before moving on to the excellent 'Never Washboard', it isn't until 'Stacey's Left Arm' that the crowd truly get into the groove of things. Whilst some fans have been down on their latest record, the band are clearly happy with it. And so they should be: '4T3' is a stunning synth-pop love song, whilst my favourite Romance cut 'My First Castle' is even better live than on the record, with Joseph's ranting "don’t pay rent, swear in the street!" making even the most hard-nosed listener crack a smile. Also worth a shout is tonight's rendition of fan-favourite 'Night of the Pencils' whose live reprise has been altered from "three's the magic number" to a refrain from Tears for Fear's 'Shout.' I'm sure there would have been a few people leaving The Flapper wondering why the lyrics "shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things I can do without, come on" seemed so familiar! Here's to pushing boundaries, and writing pop songs for rock kids. Here's to Tubelord. 

&U&I at The Flapper 16/12/2011

With the biting cold outside turning the canal towpath to an icy death-trap, where better to be than deep in the bowels of The Flapper for Off the Cuff’s Xmas Party? Boasting four of the best local acts on one bill for a very festive £4, it was hard not to miss this one. Interestingly, I’ve seen more bands in The Flapper this year than any other venue. I dread to think how many hours I’ve spent stood in that gig room, but I’m trying not to think about it too much for fear I will go and work it out using some form of elaborate spreadsheet...

First up is Birmingham 4-piece Conquistadors, whose blend of angular guitars and chaotic alt rock song structures (which I like to call “The Birmingham Sound”) is the perfect opener to this evening’s show. Having seen Conks a number of times over the past couple of years, I’m impressed at how they keep their sound different and fresh each time. Their set seemed all to brief to me, but they did treat those who turned up early to a very interesting interpretation of Paul McCartney’s Christmas classic ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’, which whilst a little scrappy around the edges was bursting with Christmas cheer and enthusiasm. Here’s wishing the best for Conquistadors for 2012 – they deserve it.

Despite having come across the name countless times before, I’d never actually seen or heard The Cape of Good Hope before. Despite this, I went in with high hopes and I am pleased to report I wasn’t disappointed. Rarely would I say the focal point of a band is their drummer, however this is certainly the case with The Cape The band boasts two drummers, both of whom drive the band along and tease, nay, force you to move your feet. Funky post-hardcore in the vein of Dartz!? Something like that. One blast of 'I Saw Something Dead Floating' or 'I'm A Little Bit Evil' and you'll know what I mean. Highly recommended, and a band I hope to catch live again soon.

Shapes

Next on we have Shapes. One of Birmingham’s more popular exports, I’ve always had trouble getting into them. Considering their pedigree (tours with Glassjaw, releases on Big Scary Monsters), you'd think I'd be totally down with it, but the problem I find with Shapes is that their music lacks real hooks – nothing really pulls me in. I haven’t heard their début LP yet (‘Monotony Chic,’ released earlier this year), but maybe I just haven’t had that eureka moment and until then I won’t get it! In Shapes defence, you can't fault their musicianship – they can play, and can play hard - it's just not for me.

&U&I

&U&I take the crown for being my most seen band of 2011, and also one of my favourite live acts of the year. The band’s impressive work ethic resulted in a cracking debut record – Light Bearer – and tonight, despite a few technical hitches,  the songs from that record really shine. 'Belly Full of Fire...' sounds particularly fine this evening. The band appear in quite a reflective mood, dedicating older material from  last year's EP to fans who have been there from the start, and I can't think of a better time to do so. These three guys have slogged it out since the untimely demise of Blakfish, and have come back far stronger than many would have imagined. A Christmas show wouldn't be a Christmas show without some crazy Crimbo guitar antics, and atop the bassist from Shapes’ shoulders Thom gives Brian May a run for his money by soloing out  'We Wish You A Merry Christmas'. ‘Chancer’s Paradise’ brings the night to a climatic conclusion, but not before seguing into ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day.’ If it means that there are more shows like this then I'll have no choice than to agree.

Johnny Foreigner added to Off the Cuff 2011

Johnny Foreigner have been confirmed to headline the Friday night of this years Off the Cuff festival at the Flapper. Also added to the bill for Saturday are Brontide and The James Cleaver Quintet. These new additions compliment the already burgeoning bill which includes returning favourites Tubelord, Tall Ships, and &U&I, as well as headlines from Dananananaykroyd and DD/MM/YYYY. This years' festival is also going to be taking place in the upstairs of the Flapper rather than the cellar gig room - the first time it will have played host to bands in a long time - increasing the capacity in the process. Keep an eye on the official OtC website for the latest updates: http://offthecuffbirmingham.co.uk/

Shapes + Grown Ups at the Flapper 23/05/2010

Despite it being an extremely warm Sunday evening there is still a reasonable turn-out for tonight's show in the warm underbelly of the Flapper. Turning up slightly later than anticipated (it was an early kick-off) I manage to catch half of Bronze Medals' set. I don't know if they were having an off-night or if the sound just wasn't doing them justice, but tonight they didn't seem as full of vim as they had last time I caught them at the Adam & Eve. Perhaps the heat had taken it out of them? That said, they stand head and shoulders above a lot of local bands for their ingenuity, surmised in set-closer 'I Lost the Map', which has become one of my favourite tracks of the year thus far.

Next to the stage were City Hero. Whilst they weren't necessarily a bad band, I can't say that the Birmingham three-piece left me wanting more. There were brief moments where interesting riffs came into the fore, reminiscent of old-school Deftones. However where progress was made on the heaviness front, the band cancelled themselves out by lapsing into a, well, cliche and cheesy rock sound that does absolutely nothing for me. I know some people like Nickelback, and there is a place for that gravelly-throated alt-rock, but that place is not in my record collection.

Into It. Over It. acted as a solid counter-balance to the acts proceeding him, and to Grown Ups who would follow. His acoustic discourses on subjects as diverse as friends, love, and American Football went down brilliantly, and his chirpy sense of humour was almost as good as his music. Favourite comment of mine was his thoughts on how Britain doesn't understand the term "bummed' which he uses often, and has had people on the tour mistake his feeling sad as reference to anal sex, which I'm sure is not always a good thing when you're thousands of miles from home. My only regret is that I didn't pick up his 52-track double album, recorded over the course of a year (1 track a week, folks), as he was a lovely guy. I complimented his brilliant humour and he said it was due to watching a lot of British sitcoms with his parents when growing up. It was very pleasing to find a Yank who gets English comedy, so Evan Weiss, I salute you.

The main pull for tonight has to be Chicago's Grown Ups. Recently signed to Big Scary Monsters, and with debut More Songs currently gracing my stereo, I knew that these boys would be an absolute riot. They remind me a lot of Hot Water Music, with their infectious pop-punk hooks skittering along in reckles abandon, with the songs usually cumilating into a fantastical conclusion almost as soon as they've started. The only negative I found this evening was that it did seem a bit too loud, meaning that the vocals were often obscured by the guitars which is a real shame as it was the combination of the vocals and the guitar hooks that originally drew my attention. I was also a little sad about how short their set was - but then their record only clocks in at just over 30 minutes. I really hope these guys come back soon as they are a fantastic, summery punk-rock outfit who deserve your attention. Why not go download their first EP, Songs, over on If You Make It - you won't regret it.

Last up tonight are local boys Shapes who I've written about before on these pages. It's pretty much text book this evening, and despite the crowd becoming decidedly smaller (it's a Sunday night after all) the band plough through their set of juggernaut riffs and unexpected time changes like the prog-metal supremeos they've grown into. A couple of new songs were thrown in for good measure this evening, including one which sounded like it may have been called something to do with AC/DC, but my ears may have tricked me. Closing with live favourite 'You Butcher!' Shapes brought to an end a diverse evening of music. Whilst they are always a great act to watch, for me this evening was all about Grown Ups, who were brilliant and are well worth your investigation.

Rolo Tomassi at the Flapper 19/04/2010

Leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, the Rolo Tomassi headline tour rolls into its last port of call: the Flapper. Suprisingly it isn't sold out tonight, which is lucky for me as I hadn't got around to buying an advance ticket. Yet, despite this, the place is still packed to the rafters.

After grabbing a pint of Red Stripe and trying to maneuvre myself into a position where I can see the first act, Throats, take the stage. Well, I say the stage, their singer actually spent most of their set throwing himself around on the floor in front of the stage. Sadly, despite the energy these guys had they didn't do much for me. Their short bursts of noise remind me a little of Napalm Death, but not being much of a hardcore kid their 30 seconds of feedback and distortion did little to capture my imagination.

Trash Talk however were another kettle of fish. Rumour has it they got kicked out of the venue after playing. From where I was it looked like the guitarist started on the DJ or something. Anyway, it felt odd watching an American band (they are from Sacramento) as nearly all the bands I watch these days are from our home shores, but I was suitably impressed by their hardcore workouts which unlike the previous band had some good riffs going on to get my attention. Their singer liked to provoke circle pits around the room, which for anyone who has been to the Flapper will realise is near-lethal. He also had a penchant for grabbing fans by the head to let them scream down the mic. They were mental, and did have a real air of danger around them. I, for one, could understand why people like them so much. Certainly not a band I would listen to of my own accord, but as a live act tonight they worked well to warm up (most literally) the crowd for the mighty Rolo Tomassi.

I was little uncertain as of what to expect of Rolo this evening. Last time I saw them was one of the most intense gigging experiences of my life, an experience that cost me my brand new camera (lost in the mosh) and my dignity. Sadly, they don't sell the latter in Argos for £69.99. Since then, however, the band have holed up with Diplo and produced a new record. Now I quite like Diplo's work, but when I found out he was going to be producing Rolo I worried slightly. My thought was it would either be killer or catastrophic. Fortunatly, if tonight's performance is anything to go by, the fans have nothing to worry about. The band thrashed their way through their set, sprinkling new material alongside tracks from debut Hysterics. New tracks such as the excellent 'Party Wounds' show Rolo are as exciting as ever. They still remind me of Refused; it must be that guitar sound, or perhaps those jazz breaks which simply rule hard. The band seem also keen to prove they're not a one trick pony too, and some of the new material shows the band experimenting with their sound, such as in my new personal favourite, 'Kasia', which starts all post-rocky with chiming guitars before building up into a super-massive Envy-esque tune complimented perfectly by Eva's stunning vocals, backed by some oh-so-throaty screams from her brother. Finishing with 'Abraxas' it is clear to see why Rolo Tomassi are one of Britain's most formidable bands, both in technicality and originality, and from the sound of things Cosmology is going to be slaying some stereos when it comes out at the end of May.

Everything Everything at the Flapper 28/10/2009

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I'm one of those people who find that if a band have a rubbish name I find it really hard to get over it and enjoy the band, thinking that bad name equals bad music. Fix Monday are a band with one of these names. However, despite the dodgy moniker, they aren't half as bad as I had anticipated and actually had a fair few catchy tracks, such as 'I Change' which got the crowd (myself including) tapping their feet. However, the highlight of their short set for me was their "reverse stage invasion", when the band dropped their instruments and came off stage and joined the crowd to perform a simple yet delicate vocal piece with four-part harmonies and the smallest amount of guitar to anchor them down. What I liked most about this was the way in which it confronted the audience - there was no way of ignoring them when they were stood in front of you. I didn't know where to look and almost felt I should hold my breath, an amazing moment from a band I had written off before even having heard them. Seems that Fix Monday are doing their very best to prove that old idiom wrong.

Next up were Findo Gask, who were the main reason I had come along, after being impressed by their performance alongside Dananananaykroyd earlier in the year at the Xbox Reverb gig at the Rainbow Warehouse. Now, before anyone thinks to say anything, yes they do have an odd name, but it's cool - they're Scottish, and named themselves after a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. They throw down a chilled out electro-pop groove which has glimpses of Hot Chip at their most inventive. There's a lot of instrument swapping and often it appears they are so full of ideas that what a lesser band would have milked out into 3 songs, the Gask boys will compress into one brilliantly formed pop gem. Playing through their singles, it is obvious what a talent Findo Gask are: 'Go Faster Stripe' being a personal favourite, as well as the multi-layered, twisting trumpet-led 'Nubo' from the One Eight Zero single, which comes on like a blissed out Youthmovies. They are a band I will definately be keeping an eye our for in the future, as they are a fun band to watch and lovely guys to talk to too. I recomend you hunt down the aforementioned single, it's brilliant.

Last but not least this evening were Everything Everything, who I had heard very little about apart from a few good things from a friend. They stay in a similar world to Findo Gask, writing inexhaustably creative electronic-tinged indie with some amazingly obscure lyrics. They were a bit of a funny looking troop, but have some truly brilliant tracks, namely their trilogy of singles: 'Suffragette Suffragette', 'Photoshop Handsome', and 'My Keys, Your Girlfriend'. 'Photoshop...' is probably my pick of the lot, with its 8-bit gamer tune spliced to a wonderfully catchy vocal hook. I know it sounds crude, but this is probably what The Automatic wish they sounded like if they could actually write decent music.