Nottingham University Battle of the Bands final, 10th June 2003
The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Openers Osiris have a difficult job – it is hard enough opening an evening (particularly when the temperature and humidity inside the building reach subtropical levels), but it is even more difficult when it is competitive, and this is only your fourth gig. Osiris (I can’t think of a name which suits them less, by the way) are the traditional 3 piece lineup of guitar/singer, bassist and drummer, although they do allow their drummer out of his cage for a bit of moody acoustic strumming part way through the set. The dual vocals between the singer and drummer add interest to their set, which consists of somewhat dated and unnervingly familiar indie-rock. Add this familiarity to the fact that the singer is a lookalike and soundalike of The Beautiful South’s Paul Heaton, and you feel as though the audience is being magically transported back to 1994. Osiris are competent musicians, and with time on their side, they should be able to produce a set which is more consistent – and decide whether to continue as a 3 piece, or let the drummer stand at the front on a more permanent basis.
Second band Swound! take the stage with confidence and brio – although the costumes of previous performances have gone, the band still look like extras from “The Wonder Years”. Swound’s performance is energetic, enthusiastic and engaging – just what the hot and jaded audience (and judges) need. They are obviously playing to a home crowd, and tonight their set of ‘comedy’ party rock (songs about the jungle and pirates, my particular favourites) is on fire. They use the dynamic of their sound well, leaving the bassist and drummer to provide a tight unit, then layering up their three guitars and multiple voices to keep the crowd interested. Swound also manage to look tonight like the gang that everyone wants to join, like The Beach Boys with jokes. Their rapturous reception suggests that sometimes everything just comes together – and tonight seems to be one of those nights.
Man Playing Kazoo boast the questionable honour of having one of the organisers of tonight’s proceedings fronting their band – I am sure his blood pressure wasn’t great before trying to relax into his performance, but the comedy of errors which accompanied their set can’t have helped him much either. The initial impression from the musicians onstage is that the music might verge into sickly indie rock – but appearances can be deceptive. Man Playing Kazoo do suffer from taking to the stage after the all-conquering Swound, but the band (including a guitarist added a mere nine days ago) produce a set of appealing rock with a practised edge and great sound. Despite the technical hitches (of multiple string breaks, microphone hari kiri and the like) the confidence of the performers in their material is evident, and I would expect to see this band moving on to support the bigger bands for whom Nottingham is a logical stop. The accomplished material includes plenty of developed songs, with accessible and poppy choruses, and the singer’s voice bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain Mr Molko. Although Man Playing Kazoo don’t have the spark to carry all before them tonight, their obvious ability could take them far.
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Johnny Castaway remain as the enigma of the evening. So this is a campus supergroup? This 5 piece contains enough musicians from the University scene to change a lightbulb – having said that, they would probably prefer to play in the dark. After an introduction which owes something to Audioslave, they launch into a closely controlled but abrasive and aggressive set more reminiscent of Dillinger Escape Plan. The musicians provide a sharp and tight backdrop to the singer’s improvisation, which can only be compared to something like one of Mike Patton’s solo projects such as “Themes for Voice” – he uses his vocal ability in quite a startling and fascinating way, utterly entrancing the by now thoroughly overheated audience. When he chooses to sing in a conventional manner, the effect is spinetingling, offset by his dripping contempt for the audience: “Are you entertained? Yeah, right.” In such a lineup, it is inevitable that the rest of the band can be overshadowed, but the performance they put on is so removed from the rest of the competition that it becomes irrelevant; their confidence, or arrogance, simply overrides. The total freedom in deciding the course of their music is infectious and courses through the audience. A totally impressive close to the music.
So after braving the boiling heat of the venue (and the winner of Swound!’s drawing competition is announced, well done to all who took part etc etc) the results are announced:
1st – Swound! 2nd – Man Playing Kazoo 3rd – Johnny Castaway 4th – Osiris
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