March

28/03/02
Doobie beep, doobie beep
Sometimes synth led tinny pop works, like for Stereolab, but however at other times it just ends up sounding crap, like tonight. Throughout their set I was trying to find some redeeming point to Persil, the only one that I could find was that the bloke had cool hair. What was so bad about it? The main problem was how the songs didn't progess at all. THey started one way, stayed the same for the rest of the set. The vocals were off tune, probably on purpose. It's a shame to see they haven't progressed in 2 years.
Gig Count: 28

25/03/02
Noise in the right hands can be great
Antonia was a singer in the Sheryl Crow vein. Musically she was good, but it sounded just too bland and boring, just like something you would hear on daytime radio. Tonight was something of a female takeover of Trailerpark, however Ivy's Itch weren't that much better. Their seem to be too many unneccesary screams and yell, and they didn't really need to be so noisy. However National Prayer Breakfast came to save the evening. They played a sort of bluesy rock, but they did it in a light hearted way, with their guitarist just running around the whole venue it seemed, climbing on chairs and tables and doing gymnastics. At least one band brought a smile to my face.
Gig Count: 27

22/03/02
Noise
This rock beast attitude is taking over Oxford. One thing that Smilex did not lack was energy, with Lee jumping all over the place, going whereever his mic lead would allow him, up on the speakers and down to the front in the middle of the audience. Not to be beaten, guitarist Tom also rocked pose his way through the entire set, falling over during the first song. Musically, they were loud, and in the midst of all the guitar noises, would emerge melodies. But definately a group to see with earplugs in, if you don't want to damage your ears.
Gig Count: 26

19/03/02
Noisy or Quiet?

Although we may all moan at how early gigs at the Point, at the Zodiac, end, there is an advantage to it, such as for tonight, when it meant I could catch both gigs instead of having to choose between two equally good line ups. So before the dash up the Cowley Road, I saw three bands downstairs at the Zodiac. Captain Howdy were a disappointment really, for 3 blokes as musical as they are (and we all know that they are talented through their past record of bands), how could they end up sounding like a mid 90s indie group (18 Wheeler springs to mind). Also disturbingly they had a song that sounded almost like Always by Bon Jovi. That three way vocal thing isn't a good idea either. We all knew The Young Knives had to have a shite gig sometime, eventually. Tonight was the night, they didn't seem that into the gig, and were basically just going through the motions of playing the set. However they still managed to raise a smile through their onstage banter. Headliners Mclusky have a great way of keeping the audience's attention, by turning the awkard in between songs bit into a quiz, and offering beer as a prize. In the right mood they would have been absolutely amazing, but they were a bit too loud for me tonight. Gig Count: 24

So off to the Cellar for more gentle entertainment. Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia were suited perfectly to the Cellar (the way that they were just noisy enough for the whole place to be filled with sound). No longer are they thrashing their instruments around, but they are now creating chaos and noise in sound with careful control. But the highlight band of the evening were Kepler who managed to play for an hour, playing a set of gentle, epic songs proving that you don't need feedback to produce some beautiful music. Gig Count: 25

11/03/02

And to the future Tonight's gig marked out some bands to look out for. First on was Jimmy Crosskey who isn't really a band, but for too long he's been hiding in other bands (Unbelivable Truth, The Samurai Seven, The Purple Rhinos...). He performed solo, with the cut down sound, just like the White Stripes (except without so much red). Along with the rock and roll guitars, the highlight of his set were the lyrics of his songs, which were often amusing. Finlay were also very impressive, sounding like a younger Pavement, and even more intense, bashing away at every song to total destruction, but with melodies. New Truck signings Fonda 500 just proved how right it was for the label to sign them. They came on stage wearing false moustaches, and tinfoil wrist band with their set lists on it. The star of the entire show was probably their singer Simon. Although plagued with technical difficulties all night (he had borrowed a keyboard, and all the keys were black) he still managed to human beatbox his way through the set, and just control the whole band (it seemed). How much control he had for his own body was a different matter, as he climbed his way up on top of his stool, threatening to jump on the keyboard. Now that they are part of the Truck family, we can look forward to more of their gigs. Gig Count:23

08/03/02
Drowning Young Samurais
For such a young band Drowning By Numbers were very impressive. Although they looked like nu-metal kids, they produced music that was more on a par with Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia and The Rock of Travolta. Actually they sounded like a more intense version of the Russians, with a bloke on lead vocals doing random shouts instead of monologues. And he also managed to destroy his guitar at the end far better than Ollie Russian did last week. Still improving with every gig, Ponyc...The Young Knives are just getting better. Ever since January, they haven't seemed to stop gigging and are winning over more and more fans. They currently stand out locally, as a band that doesn't fit into a category. It's refreshing to see a band not up their own arses, and managing to not take their music that serious, and still sound so good. The Samurai Seven have grown up, and lost that urgency in their music, that used to make them exciting live. It was quite depressing to see a band that I used to love so much reduced to doing cock jokes onstage.
Gig Count:22

07/03/02

Doktor, Doktor... I was rather disappointed with British Sea Power, I remember hearing their single sometime in January, and thinking it sounded rather promising, but in actual fact they were just rather dull, and when the singing started, it sounded like Hurricane #1/Oasis. Their last song did turn out into a rather good guitar noise thing, but sadly it was interupted by more singing. Their saving good points were that they had animal bones and statues on stage, and they brought a new angle to rock posing, with their attempts at shooting at each other with guitars. I've spent the day in an electronic lab surrounded by loads of oscilloscopes, that continued tonight, with 4 of them showing the waveforms of the music produced by Clinic. Still performing in their surgical masks and suits, live they sounded more exciting than their recorded output would suggest. The songs didn't seem that repetitive, and it was good that they littered their set with old songs as well as new. Gig Count:21

01/03/02

Meanwhile back down at the Point This gig was surprisingly packed, with the bands no doubt bringing lots of their student friends, just in time before the end of term. Mr Duck seemed to have got a bit tighter in sound, and they sounded more like the Smiths than ever. Hmm a goth sounding Smiths? And the drum decorations with lots of plastic ducks was an interesting choice too. It wasn't surprising that most people were here to watch Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia. Having taken time off from gigging, they've got some new songs. I'm sure the new songs are growers, but at the moment they sound like the jazz-experimentation music that you get on late night Radio 3. Although drunk Russians are usually good Russians, they didn't seem that into the music tonight, and were playing the songs without the intensity that they usually play with. However, reinforcing the idea that it's not just about the music, the whole stage show seemed to fit in with the atmosphere, strobe lighting and the smoke machine created an oh so mysterious air, that went well with the music. Gig Count:20

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