Friday 26 September - and tonight we were off to The Duchess to re-visit a band that we've seen and liked before, Lecorum (and on MyFace). Last time we saw them they were playing support to Royworld at Fibbers, tonight, second support to Longview. Are they going down in the world? Well no. It's just that the other bands were flippin' brilliant as well.
Lecorum are a Hull-based four piece consisting of: Chris Howard (vocals, guitar), Damien Johnson (piano), Fletch (bass), and Joe Nicholson (drums). Formed in late 2006 and playing their first gig in 2007 they've opened for some big names in music including; Orson, The Hoosiers, Alphabeat, Cherry Ghost, Tiny Dancers, The Sunshine Underground, Palladium, and The Automatic. Given their pedigree and the fact that I've seen them before, and they were great, I expected more people to have arrived early but there was probably only about twenty of us which was a big shame for everyone who wasn't there. The band didn't care though and put great effort and energy into their playing. The music? Well, they bill it as 'pumping, piano-led indie' but that's not a lot of help is it? Think MSP (old school), Longpigs, kinda quirky indie. Anyway, fantastic tunes, many of which you can listen to on MyFace or download from I-suck-Tunes; Cartoon, Anyone Who Seems To Care, Mix Tape, Sleep Walk, Going, Connected?, Hide Away, Down and Tired, Clockwork. I liked them so much that I bought their new EP Cartoon, and it takes a bit for me to part with cash at a gig! The sound was, I have to say, mixed a bit too loud. I don't direct this at Lecorum, but rather at the gig as a whole, as it was too loud for all the bands. This led to a lot of the extremely good vocals being lost in fuzzy guitar sounds and the bands were all asking for extra volume on their mics, which was not really the actual problem. [Steps down from soap-box.]
Band two were Domino State, a London-based quintet comprising; Tim Buckland (guitar), Matt Forder (vocals), James Machin (guitar), Wil Padley (bass), and Rich Simic (drums). At this stage I have to point out that the three bands on show tonight are cast very much from the same musical mould, and in this sense complement each other in the very best of ways. Domino State sound like an un-gloomy Puressence, maybe a bit like The Killers, or The Editors. Their songs veer from stadium anthems (What's The Question), to sonic soundscapes (Safe Now). Iron Mask built brooding epic guitar melodies from Tim and James, while Matt's haunting vocals fluttered over the top, optimism emerging from darkness with harmonica thrown in for good measure. Top stuff.
And so to the head-liners, Longview (and on MyFace), also from London (well from all over, but probably more spiritually from Manchester), who consist of: Rob McVey (guitar, vocals), Aidan Banks (bass), Doug Morch (guitar), and Ulrich Schnauss (keyboards). By this time the place had really filled up a lot more, although I was still only about four people away from the front of the stage. I'm still not sure I know how to describe their sound. It's a bit like early Four Day Hombre, plenty of keyboard leads, wailing vocals, softly whispered lyrics, interspersed with thunderous drums and grievous bodily harm to guitars, and some prawn behind you talking all the way through it. Yes it's really that good.
We have the anthemic Still bulging with beautiful harmonies, spine tingling ethereal guitars, but it's played hard and gritty, they really mean it. Coming Down, with chords and structure that implanted themselves in our brain forever. It really should be called Going Up as three quarters of the way through we got shredding guitars with McVey and Morch mooching about the stage in a frenzy of activity while Matts drums built to the shattering crescendo. The painfully beautiful In A Dream with ethereal guitar sounds from Morch and syrupy dripping vocals from McVey and Banks. Further, a song so big they had to release it thrice (well maybe it was due to contractual wranglings). I'm still looking for comparisons; anthemic Embrace, the ambience of Elbow? Oh, just get out there and listen to them.
Apres show we ambled across the road to The Terrace to check out a band called Seed. The place was deserted; about four punters at the bar, a few couples snogging in dark corners and someone on a gaming machine. Oh, and the band. I'm no idea where they're from but they played their own material which seemed to me to be a cross between the sing-along-chorus style of Oasis and the delicate story-telling of Del Amitri. Seed were just three blokes, electric lead, bass, and acoustic guitar and vocals. They were very good
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