Friday 6 June – and we are down at Fibbers to see Hope&Social (the band formerly known as Four Day Hombre). We arrived in time to catch the last ten minutes of Dan Torres and his merry men. Well, actually, his merry man as there was no sign of bass player, Ricardo Rodriguez, so it was just Dan and Ryan Vaughn (drums, percussion, basically anything you can hit or shake). Dan hails from New York and has a terrific voice. He played a lot of material from the 2006 album Where I Stand as well as some new stuff which presumably will be on his forthcoming new album. He was so good that one of our party, The Druid, actually paid real money for a copy of the album. We saw Dan during the interval and congratulated him on his performance and he signed The Druid’s album for him. What a good egg.
Next up were York/Leeds band, The Hair. Now, ‘A’ reckoned that we had seen these before, and certainly Disco/Retro sounded familiar, but it must have been pre-blog ‘cos I couldn’t find them on here. Anyway, they kicked off the set with said catchy electro disco number Disco/Retro (the video of which was shown on the Main Stage at last year's Leeds Festival). Now, I don’t like disco and I’m not a big fan of electronica generally, but these guys actually made it all sound great. The Hair's brand of electro indie rock is inventive, energetic and upbeat. Apparently they have a debut album, Indecisions, but I can’t find hide nor hair of it (groan). 1982 offered a touch of Kaisers-esque Oh Oh Oh's in the chorus, and Left Foot Right Foot is a song you only have to hear once for it to stick in your head, with its cowbell intro and the brothers Lee and Neil Clark swapping instrumental duties. It also liked Half Cut. They ended with new single Blood, due out very soon. The Hair are: Lee Clark (Bass/Guitars/Vocals), Neil Clark – (Keys/Samples/Vocals), Sam Robson (Vocals/Guitar/Inappropriate man dancing), and Vijay Mistry (Drums/Percussion). They will be playing at the Copmanthorpe Carnival on 5 July, so check them out.
Before Hope&Social started I was looking around Fibbers and noting how bare it is looking now. A number of pumps have been removed from the bar, notably the Timothy Taylors and Black Sheep. Bit of a shame that. The bar staff were acting like zombies as well. Anyway, back to the gig and Hope&Social came on to rapturous applause as they are always firm favourites among the non-talking section of the York music crowd. I’m not going to play “remember the play list” but they eschewed a lot of their older material for newer stuff. The most recent offerings find the band sounding increasing like Feeder. Obviously, that’s not a bad thing, but I do rather miss the high pitched 4DH vocals that were, for me, their trademark sound. Overall, fantastic quality and a really bargain to see three good acts for a fiver.
It was still early when we turned out of Fibs, so we ambled in the direction of The Terrace, however, the strains of Sylvia’s Mother (Dr Hook) seem to somehow deflect us away from the entrance and into The Roman Bath where Travellin’ Band were just starting the second half of their set. These are a fairly pedestrian rock band covering the likes of: Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd, Roll Over Beethoven Chuck Berry, Old Time Rock and Roll Bob Segar, you get the idea. We’ve definitely seen these before and the star of the band is Steve (Crazy Horse) McLeod on lead guitar. I have to say that the vocals seemed a bit flat this time, not how I remember them from previously.
The latest news on the The Duchess front is that the opening has been delayed until 3 July. This is a huge blow as Black Stone Cherry won’t now be playing. I understand that Barfly and York council are making things as difficult as they can for Tim. Well I’m sorry but that’s not the way to win friends and I suspect that this will only garner further support for Tim and The Duchess.
What’s On My p-Pod? – Well, this week I’ve mostly been listening to...
Four Day Hombre – debut album and still outstanding, Experiments In Living. That said, every track is way better for being performed live.
Four Day Hombre – One.Foot.Louder the acoustic session recorded in Harlem, even more tinkley and soulful.
Duels - The Barbarians Move In, their second album and one of my best buys of the year. This is quirky stuff, a bit like Elbow crossed with Athlete but a bit rockier. The Furies has a thumping drumbeat, scratchy, jangly guitars and cries of Ay! Ay! with a howling middle eight. Regeneration has child-like vocals in the chorus, then it fades to a whisper, before smashing you over the head. The Wild Hunt, is muffled vocals over an eerie soundscape. Is there such a genre as prog-lo-fi? I think Duels may have invented it with The First Time/The Last Time. Buy this album.
Ash – 1977. I forget just how great this album was. I remember them playing in the Radio 1 Session tent at Leeds’ Festival (2002 I think). The tent was jammed full and we had to sit outside but they were so loud, it was like being inside the tent anyway, Angel Interceptor, Girl From Mars, Kung Fu, Shining Light, Oh Yeah...
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Don't You Fake It, recommended by someone a lot more youthful than me, but what a cracking album. Really great lyrics sung by, obviously young Americans (RJA formed in 2003 in Jacksonville, Florida). Musically similar to Linkin Park, but without the rapping and wicha wicha scratching garnished with dollops of The Ataris and Jimmy Eat World. Quite how Ronnie Winter (lead vocalist) manages to scream that much without doing his throat a mischief is beyond me. Well recommended.
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