This is not the night for the faint hearted, the easily scared or the fey. Neither is their room for cooler than thou posturing. Tonight we are treated to 3 bands, all different and all equally uncompromising and all in their own way utterly compelling.
FI-LO RADIO are a three piece from Preston who deal in huge bludgeoning riffs and massive amounts of feedback. Reminiscent of early Nirvana or a more brutal Smashing Pumpkins, they are the aural equivalent of being repeatedly hit round the head with a house brick. Lead singer and guitarist, Jon Lee Martin possesses a fine, angst ridden, raw voice that soars over the visceral drive of the music. Bass player, Jude Pratt lays down rumbling bass lines and adds backing yelps whilst drummer Chris Jopson is a blur of titanic beats. How they attain the huge sound between the three of them is a mystery. There is little in the way of let up as each song delves into great churning riffs that threaten to level all that stands before them and invariably finishes in a blast of ear shattering feedback. They get a great reception from the crowd and they are obviously having the time of their lives up there. Fi-lo Radio are picking up quite a buzz at the moment and rightly so, if there’s any justice this lot will be huge.
SEACHANGE are a different proposition altogether. There’s six of them up there including a violin player and they deal in epic rock wig outs with emotionally charged lyrics. Front man Dan sings eyes shut in what appears to be a very public catharsis while the three guitar attack flies off into guitar stabs and thrash work outs. The addition of the violin brings a melancholic element to proceedings without plunging into nails down a blackboard histrionics or twee Celtic stereotypes. Sartorially they are caught between Franz Ferdinand's less tasteful cousins and Dan's street-urchin-grows-up look. At the end of the day he’s wearing a cardigan on stage and there’s not many that can get away with that.
Between song banter is minimal, in fact the band give off a feeling of insularity throughout, heads down wringing their instruments for every last sound. It’s an intense experience that sometimes grates but on the whole is exciting and mesmerising. Their biggest problem tonight is sharing a bill with Fi-lo Radio and Oceansize, both of whom, in very different ways, are better bands.
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To try and encapsulate the sound of OCEANSIZE in one easy to use label is no easy task. Their sound is so diverse it makes a mockery of terms such as nu prog. Tonight in the Underworld I heard Radiohead (circa "OK Computer"), My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, early Verve and dare I say it, Incubus. That was just the first song. Each song becomes a journey taking in anything from free form thrash outs to great chugging metallic riffs and atmospheric soundscapes. This reviewer, as you’ve probably guessed by now, is never happier than when a band are creating huge slabs of noise, locking a groove with crunching guitars and Oceansize are extremely adept at this.
It is in their quieter moments, however, that the attention starts to drift. There are relatively long passages of time where they meander along walking the fine line of self-indulgence. That they manage to stay the right side of this line is all credit to them.
Apparently their new single ‘Catalyst’ is available as a polyphonic ring tone, much to the amusement of lead singer Mike Vennart and guitarist Steve Durose. The bass part is spot on they reckon. What sort of demand there’s been isn’t discussed but I had the fantastic image of Oceansize fans never speaking to anyone again because they were waiting for the song to kick in.
Three excellent bands then and not a skinny tie in sight. Proof, if it was needed, that British rock music is as innovative and exciting as it has been for many a year.
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