In Leeds, it's gold rush time. Jobs, property, leisure drugs and car parks are booming. Stretch limos cruise the Saturday night crowds of squealing nights out with the girls.
Under the railway arches, covered in mesh fencing, peeling paint and scaffolding, there's the other side of town. Anyone who doesn't love the music with a passion has long gone. The Cockpit has never looked worse than it does now.
But inside it's a different story. Two bands from opposite sides of the Atlantic shape up for some heartfelt guitar music. Texas meets Iceland.
SILT are up first. With orchestras and DAMON ALBARN in the biog, they come over as fresh and unpretentious. Orchestras? "They don't rehearse and we don't read the notes, so it was interesting." In England, they love the cheap beer and the soccer. They retch at the thought of "full English breakfast" and suggest smoked puffin is more like it.
SILT'S music is a joy. A simple three-piece guitar band with roots in the igneous rocks of their home country. Heavy and volcanic as you like. But no freak show haircuts, face paint or Satanism to confuse the issue. The bass and drums are both thunderous and precise. The guitar is inventive, sharp and musical. HEIDAR'S singing is powerful, screamy stuff with plenty of tune when needed.
They don't screw up their faces to pretend it's difficult. They don't whirl their arms and hair to look like the movies. They don't do pouty mumbles between numbers. They talk to people in the crowd, crack jokes and offer some Icelandic lyrics for us to enjoy.
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They bring along a joke Papa Smurf keyboard tune to groove along to. But in the end, it's pure ice cold/ white hot rock music with no agenda bar the love of the music. "Bus Stop" and "The Walk" are outstanding: intelligent and gutsy and no need to wear a hoody and chains. Punters rush for the merchandise stall to get the "In Line" EP (which is a treat). Here's genuine music that works live and on CD.
SPARTA met up with SILT during an earlier European tour. They have a lot in common. Living in El Paso, Texas, they're a safe distance off that main road between fashion statement and musical oblivion. They have BENNY GOODMAN, BILLY JOEL and SLAYER albums in their collections and talk passionately about the music - and see its' strength in the people who play it and love it.
They explode on stage like the fearsomely well rehearsed 5-piece they have become. Now on the Dream Works label, they have grown up with an independent spirit and a creative urge to match.
Three guitars doing huge riffs and great tunes. Bass and drums as big as houses and JIM WARD'S soulful voice, with high harmonies to add to the thrills. It's a brilliant show, it gets the heart and brain beating together and it lets everyone in. Look for their Vancouver-recorded album in the autumn.
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