I must confess that I was ready to be disappointed by Earth the Californian Love Dream’s ‘special acoustic set’, fearing some kind of pointless VH1 Unplugged-style blandfest. I was pleasantly proved wrong however, as Earth (as I will henceforth annoyingly call them), having lost a drummer, temporarily became a seated trio of acoustic guitarists. They spun a beautiful web, both playing in harmony and seamlessly weaving in individual intricacies. Vocalist Huw Costin was a lazy journalist’s dream, providing a helpful summation of each song’s subject matter, as well as a longer speech on the unexpected qualities of Texan women and cab drivers before launching into (you guessed it) ‘Texan Girls’. Most of their material was present and correct, including a strangely truncated version of ‘Porn Star’, and a beguiling reworking of debut single ‘In the Garden’. As Earth left the stage, Costin confidentially predicted that we’d see them again, and I’m sure we will.
Whilst many of today’s bands are busy taking Dfa’s punk funk revival into realms of tedious repetition, Autokat have wisely decided to tap the vein of the original New York New Wave, melding Television’s angularity with Pere Ubu’s appropriation of dub. They seem an intense, intellectual bunch, with the nervous, wiry edge of young people who spend a great deal of time in darkened bedrooms playing PC games whilst discussing Baudrillard. Lyrically, Autokat opt for mantra-like minimalism, which, for me, is always a good choice.
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And so to The Permissive Society. Apparently, this band is being touted as a potential breakthrough act. I suppose they are unimaginative and unchallenging enough to fit the bill. Basically, The Permissive Society are third-rate Iggy and the Stooges copyists, competent enough but pretty unnecessary.
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