Savages + Beak> - Camden Electric Ballroom – 21^st February 2013

Tonight’s gig starts with dancers performing on the dance floor in slow motion to lumbering doom-electro. They begin as the audience enters, and they combine together to make fantastical looking creatures. It is quite simply the most inventive and imaginative introduction to a gig that I’ve ever seen.

The invention continues with Beak>. This is the side project of Geoff barrow from Portishead; comprising himself on drums, Billy Fuller on bass and Matt Williams on drums. They produce ethereal electro art-rock designed to take the listener to far-away places. The obvious Kraftwerk comparisons apply, but there is also an element of early Pink Floyd brought into play here. They make time stand still, in a good way.

Savages return us to a sense of electrified urgency, with a long (accidental?) burst of feedback before breaking into “Shut Up”. They exude an air of glacial danger and otherness which is downright intimidating. They vent their ire for a while on the “lazy monitor man” who is apparently missing from his post.

They are even tighter and more razor sharp than when I saw them at Brighton Haunt in the Summer. They seem to remain just on the right side of being in control with Jehnny Beth hitting herself during “Hit Me”. They end with “Husbands”, “Fuckers” and as seems to be usual, no encore. There is no waste with this band – they are lean, mean and dangerous. 21^st Century music as it’s meant to be played. Savages will melt your cerebral cortex.

                                                                                             Mark Kelly 

Exclamation Pony + This Many Boyfriends

Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen – 19^th February 2013

Exclamation Pony are unfortunate in being preceded by the witty intelligent indie rock of This Many Boyfriends. Still, Ryan Jarman should know how good they are – he produced their album. Regrettably for him they set the bar at a height that Exclamation Pony simply can’t reach.

When they take the stage Ryan screams his way through the first song, but generally their material isn’t that different from The Cribs, perhaps with a hint of The Lemonheads at their most stoned thrown in. Jen Turner plays some great lead lines, and  they could well be the most erotic rock ‘n’ roll couple since Lux Interior and Poison Ivy of The Cramps.

“The Only One” is particularly kick-ass, and there’s a surprising cover of The Beatles’ “Julia”. However, whilst this is entertaining and a great deal of fun, it’s not particularly special, which with a bit more effort it could be. They’re a bit pissed and having a good time, and with the amount of goodwill coming from the audience it’s a bit like watching your mates’ band playing a pub.

Ryan Jarman has been hinting in the press that this new band may well replace The Cribs in his affections and priorities. Maybe this gig will make him think again. Love may be blind, but it needn’t necessarily be deaf.

                                                                                                      Mark Kelly    

Toy + Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs + Novella

Kings Cross Scala 12^th February 2013

Toy hit the Scala tonight as tour-hardened veterans of their debut album campaign. However, before they can demonstrate their current state of wonderfulness we are entertained by Novella and Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs.

Novella are a delight. They commence with feedback and produce a pleasantly shoegazey guitar noise which is underpinned by the bassist’s McCartneyesque bass lines. The tunes are ethereal and understated, and on the last song one of the guitarists elicits howls of feedback from her Les Paul which by this stage is hanging behind her back. Everything about this band is ‘just so’. There is nothing that is overblown, wasted or ill-considered. One to watch.

Unfortunately this is more than can be said for Charlie Boyer And The Voyeurs. As the former members of Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong now residing in Toy could confirm, bands with ‘humorous’ names are often a bit shit, and Charlie….. (no, let’s call them CBV – I really can’t bring myself to type all of that out again), CBV do fall into that category. Charlie marches onto the stage and immediately demands “more slapback”. This results in him sounding like an overly tinny Marc Bolan. If the guitarist put as much effort into his playing as he clearly has in applying his make-up he’d give Jimmy Page a run for his money. The bass player sounds as if his strings are a thousand years old and the drummer might as well have soggy cardboard boxes for drumskins. They have a keyboard player too. He’s pretty much inaudible, but he does jump around enthusiastically. Which is nice.

They start off all motorik, a bit like a Toy mini-me, but without the necessary chops to carry it off. Mid-set their material is reminiscent of stodgy Britpop, whilst the closing song returns to the motorik approach. They attempt what in the olden days was known as a ‘freak-out’ to close, but banging away on one chord ad infinitum doesn’t really do it for anyone. There’s simply not enough going on. I can’t help wondering how they got on the bill? Maybe they’re mates with the promoter.

Occasionally you see a band who seem to instinctively know that their moment has arrived, and Toy certainly give off that vibe tonight. They open with “Colours Running Out” and immediately sound majestic. Nothing is too overdriven but the music feels as if it could take you to another galaxy. Despite the Krautrock comparisons however, this is very much English music. Tom Dougall’s vocals recall Syd Barratt and Nick Drake and are modest and understated.

This is in marked contrast to the music which swirls and swooshes and spirals but never quite gets out of control. Each song feels like an adventure to an unknown and unexplored destination. This adventurousness reflects the ambition of the album. However, they play a new song which stretches that ambition further still, with bars of differing length and time signature changes.

Perhaps in order to sweeten the pill the new song is followed by “Heart Skips A Beat”, which is the closest Toy get to pop, They close with “Kopter”, which is gradually achieving the status of their masterpiece so far. Like “Common People” by Pulp, it gradually increases in speed and intensity till it reaches its climax, which Tom Dougall marks by kicking over his amp and throwing his guitar into the drum kit. There is no encore.     

Family – Shepherds Bush Empire – 1^st February 2013

This must rank as the most unlikely and unexpected of band reunions. Family have a 14xCD career retrospective box set coming out and have taken the (possibly rash) decision to celebrate / promote its release by playing their first gigs since making their last stand at Leicester Polytechnic in 1973.

There is a mixture of anticipation and Friday night boisterousness as 1970s Leicester City footballer Frank Worthington introduces the band, calling them “Leicester’s answer to Elvis Presley!” Well, possibly they were!

The 21^st Century version of Family has a core line-up of the irrepressible Roger Chapman on vocals, Jim Cregan on guitar (Charlie Witney has retired to a Greek island and was reluctant to return for only two gigs), Poli Palmer on vibes and Rob Townsend on drums. They are augmented by additional musicians who Chappo has dubbed the “in-laws”.

As soon as the band commence with Top Of The Hill it becomes clear that irrespective of who is or isn’t onstage, this is still Family. Also it’s quickly apparent that these won’t be a couple of quickly dashed off gigs –obviously some serious rehearsal time has been spent.

Chappo promises not to use bad language, and then gloats that Leicester City have beat Cardiff: “anything to f*** Andy Fairweather-Low up!” He then proceeds to make some potentially slanderous comments about the late John Barry which I can’t possibly repeat here.

For two hours Shepherds Bush Empire becomes Heaven for fans of Family. Drawing up the set list must have been a nightmare – not so much what to play as what to leave out! The classics are lovingly wheeled out. Who can argue with No Mule’s Fool, Sat’dy Barfly, Burlesque, In My Own Time, The Weaver’s Answer, My Friend The Sun and Sweet Desiree? Chappo admits that he can no longer reach the high notes in My Friend The Sun so the audience oblige instead. Apparently Linda Lewis was coming the next night to help out.

The question that wasn’t on everybody’s lips but doubtless was in many minds was ‘what next’. This band are clearly tour ready and it would be a terrible shame if more gigs didn’t follow. How about it chaps? And bring Charlie next time!

                                                                                     Mark Kelly

Focus – Islington Assembly Hall – 30^th January 2013

Focus’s music at its best is a multi-faceted thing: you can rock out to it; it can lead you by the mind to far away places; it can wear its medieval influences on its sleeve (does that mean they’re to blame for Blackmore’s Night???). I am glad to report that each of these facets of their oeuvre are served well by the current line-up, who visit Islington to promote their latest album, Focus X.

The current line-up features Thijs van Leer on keyboards, flute and vocals; Pierre van der Linden on drums; Menno Gootjes on guitar and Bobby Jacobs (van Leer’s stepson) on bass. Perhaps Gootjes has the least enviable job when playing the older material in having to replicate Jan Akkerman’s guitar lines of yore while stamping his own identity on them. That notwithstanding, he plays the guitar hero with considerable aplomb.

The star of the show tonight however is Thijs van Leer. He directs proceedings from behind his keyboard like a kind of Gandalf figure. He visibly feels the music, and pulls magical lines from both his keyboard and flute whilst waving encouragement to his bandmates or reining them in occasionally with a gesture.

During Eruption Thijs steps out from behind his keyboard and walks to the front of the stage to play flute and scat sing before leaving the stage while various solos take place, attempting to walk through Bobby Jacobs (to his visible annoyance) in the process.

The new album Focus X is represented by All Hens On Deck and Birds Come Fly Over (Le Tango). Focus X is fits in well with the band’s back catalogue whilst avoiding aping it. However, good as the new material is, what the mostly forty-and-fifty-something audience have come to hear are the oldies, and they are not disappointed. The set started with Focus I and House Of The King, and after Eruption there is a scorching version of Sylvia. La Cathedrale De Strasbourg is followed by Harem Scarem, which Thijs helpfully advises us is about the evils of alcohol. Just say no kids.

The set ends with a vicious version of Hocus Pocus, which is followed by an apparently (but not obviously) shortened version of Focus III, as the band will be fined if they carry on playing beyond 11pm! An evening of Dutch prog from a band who have been in business for over forty years may not be perceived as an appealing prospect by everybody. However, this band ooze enthusiasm, vitality, inventiveness and humour from every pore, and really should not be missed. If you have the opportunity, go see ‘em next time – I certainly will!

                                                                                          Mark Kelly