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. 

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.