AT THE SILVER ROCKET CLUB, 07.01.05
THESE HANDS is a great name for a band. and the band do suggest that they might be pretty good, in time. at present they'e still got a bit of growing to do. they're kinda still a bit too clearly influenced by their influences really, and so, for example, the one that sounds a bit like the stooges (to my ears anyway, a but like 'no fun'), the opening song, sounds more stooges than it does these hands. and the one that sounds like the fall, sounds more fall thn it does these hands (althougth it does, strangely, and surprisingly, seem to turn a bit into the rollins band at the chorus for some reason), and there isn't yet that much consistancy gelling the list of influences together. but to their credit they seem to like really good bands. and other songs do suggest that the balance might be tipped more in favour of these hands one day. and they seem like refreshingly nice people as well, the singer going from shouting in a frazzled kinda way one minute to thanking the other bands between songs in the next.. and hey, i'd certainly go and see them agan, so they must be doing something right.
THE EDMUND FITZGERALD come on, and my god they look young. and my god they must either practice a hell of a lot, or be three parts of the same living organism or something (like the children in john wyndham's the midwich cuckoos that are all alians sharing one group brain - so if you were to tell something to one of them then they'd all automatically know it, hurt one and they'd all automatically feel it, tell one of them to change the timing of the guitar riff that they're playing to something even more complicated, at the drop of a hat, and they'd all automatically folow suit seemlessly, but i digress). there are three people in the edmund fitzgerald, two play guitar and one plays the drums, and they are honestly the most uncannily tight band i have ever seen and so are completely fascinating to watch live. i for one would not last two seconds if i was to audition for the band, before getting completely lost in the time changes. and yet the songs are at the same time, amazingly, good to listen to, and not just things of interest and pleasure to the people playing them and to people that write for the wire. so not just yer typical math-rock types then.
i've seen COVE before, and really liked them, and probably wouldn't have made the decision to come to the gig if they hadn't been playing, but, well, i don't think they were playing the best set of songs i've seen them play tonight really. i mean, they still sound pretty powerful, are still pretty slint/shallac inspired in their sound (in fact i think i once described cove as being the best slint-like band that i have ever seen), and the drummer's still really good, but something didn't quite do it for me tonight unfortunately. maybe it didn't help them coming on straight after the edmund fitzgerald, maybe that was it, mainly because this made cove sound a little less tight than they normally sound, maybe only becasue the previous band were perhaps too damned tight, i dunno. cove seem to have dropped quite a few of the more intricate sections of their songs, dropped the vocals, and decided to instrumentaly rock out over and over. maybe on another night i would have enjoyed it more. i dunno.
band websites:
COVE
THE EDMUND FITZGERALD
THESE HANDS
* the broken family band's first record - starts off great and tails off towards the end, but there are definately a few gems there.
* 'first time' - duke ellington meets count basie.
* black sabbath - selected greatest hits, or at least just 'war pigs', because its massive.
* 'bucket bottom' by prince alla. just that one song, over and over.
the male nurse
bottco records