Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Yeah Yeah Noh Hare & Hounds 7th July 2012


Yeah Yeah Noh split in 86 but have reformed. They’re not the first band to reform.  While the usual reasons included Live Aid, Global Debt Pink Floyd Thingy, anniversary tours or the release of a sumptuous box set hand tooled by mermaids;  YYN actually reformed for guitarist John Grayland’s birthday. He’d organised JohnFest to celebrate it and when the child friendly festival in Barmouth, (confirmed by Government stats to be an actual "Town full of Brummies") was washed out by wet weather it moved indoors to the Hare and Hounds. (Confirmed by Camra to be a pub full of beer).

It was my youngest’s first gig and he naively asked which stadium it would be at.  It’s a stadium where I used to go to a Pub Quiz.

I was always a big fan of YYN's twangy guitar, skinny rib psychedelia and excellent lyrics.  I liked the clattery odd pop of Bias Binding, the swirly suburban psychedelia of The Other Side of Mrs Quill ("Paid a visit to the other side of her living room") to the full on pop of Sunday To Saturday. At the time they were frequently shambolic, sometimes more tuneful than their Garage Band/Fall influences would suggest and not afraid to chuck in a surf instrumental.  The time off has down them some good. They’ve grown too.  There are six of them now.

Prick Up Your Ears starts with just new drummer Ant getting down to rhythmic business and the rest of the band gradually filing on stage and building up the sound. Crucially bassist Dermot theatrically taking his shades out of the case and putting them on before he can play a note.  He's either blinded by the lights or Derek Hammonds Technicolor dream blazer.

Bias Binding is introduced as going from the "Sublime to the ridiculous or vice versa".  It's a John Peel endorsed tune and home to some of the conversational snippets and bus stop phrases that livened up the early YYN singles "University straight from nursery look at his fingernails".  The band amuse themselves with the "Bias Binding" backing vocals.  I’m amused too!

I always liked the line in Temple Of Convenience "Eddie knows a bit about alienation"; it sits comfortably alongside other bits of odd pop earnestness that Sir might also like to consider.  "Libraries gave us power" or "I am an architect" from the Manic Street Preachers.  It's got more bah bah bah bah backing vocals.

Another Side Of Mrs Quill is described as "One of John’s favourites....so please be favourable" and it's exactly what made YYN such an intriguing prospect in the first place.   This time round though (and it's a lot to do with the drummer) they positively swing,  There are 2 guitarists now, Johns harsh guitar is at the ball and cheesewire end of the sonic spectrum and Derek is singing better than ever.

The wonderful See through Nature is thoughtfully explained for the benefit and education of the younger members of the audience who may have detected drug references.  As Derek explained the reason that the line "My life is nil, I just take pills" is not true “Because you know that the next line is "my name is Eugene"...and you KNOW that's not true"

Up On The Downs is "first new track of the 21st century" It's a really good piece of Beatles/Bryds stop start pop.  (The band have form on this of course as they have previously covered She Said She Said) and it’s a good enough reason for the band to reform

Stealing In The Name of The Lord takes it's title (and nothing else) from the Paul Kelly soul song but new keyboard player Eva adds Stonesy Sympathy for the Devil flourishes as the song  spirals up towards cod gospel glory.

Big decisions for the audience as singer Derek struggles with the heat.  Does the splendid Technicolor blazer stay on or come off?  Let the audience decide.  "Disrobe" or "Keep it on."  It's a chant that's sweeping the nation, or at least the part of the nation in a strip club or on a stag night.

Final song Blood Soup is a churning queasy affair.  Dermot takes his shades off (as if to say “That's enough Rockin' for tonight").  There's no encore because it's time to bring on Johns birthday cake, sing happy Birthday and then…speech time.  You don't get that at New Order or Wedding Present gigs......You just don't get an encore

YYN are doing a Marc Riley session in September and a John Peel all day festival in Manchester on 27th Oct.  These are good things. 

Prick Up Your Ears
Bias Binding
Temple Of Convenience
Superimposed Man
Another Side To Mrs Quill
See Through Nature
Up On The Downs
Starling Pillowcase
Stealing In The Name Of The Lord
Blood Soup

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Pete Williams Hare and Hounds 13/04/12

Pete Williams Hare and Hounds 13/04/12

Pete Williams was the original bass player in Dexys (keen scholars of the inner sleeve will remember him as ”a young bass driver ...carrying his tool under one arm and the complete Stax collection under the other”). He was in post Dexys mutiny band The Bureau and These Tender Virtues, played on Dexys 2003 shows and is on the forthcoming Dexys album. His own excellent album Seen is out and he’s assembled a terrific band of Richard Hawley henchmen, all collapsing quiffs and manfully concealed bald patches.

Williams himself is a really engaging frontman, who can squeeze a tune out of most instruments, and carry off Pub Vegas style snappy pointing and on the beat gestures. And you could fight World War 2 in his spiv trousers and braces set up ….not just wear them to fight in, but you could actually fit all the major campaigns into them….The Pacific… The Russian Front…The Y front..

Opening song Reconsider This is a Bowie quoting domestic violence song
(“bruises won’t show if she wears long sleeves”. The chorus is a soaring thing of beauty that’s really lifted by the keyboards and as a chorus it goes above and beyond the call of duty. It’s far better than any song actually needs….he could cut a bit of it off and give it to someone who needs it more.

He gets the uke out for Too Many Questions. It has a bit of a Van Morrison feel and Williams does have a bit of a Kevin Rowland turn of phrase, but the songs are strong and well arranged. So they don’t just feel like it’s a rigid verse chorus structure but they progress through sections.

The line up is keyboards (Fred Skidmore, his long term musical partner),
bass/double bass (Al Gare and a Paddington Bear hard stare from The Imelda May band), guitar and drums from Richard Hawley band and Paul Taylor on Trombone. They’re all excellent players, relaxed, unfussy but shit hot at the hot shit

As clouds of over enthusiastic dry ice billows rounds the stage, Williams
asks the trombonist (scientifically proven to be the parpiest of all musical instruments, although The Whoopee Cushion Orchestra of Great Britain may disagree) “is that you Paul?”

There’s a bit of a Latin feel to one of the songs that I couldn’t place and
Black is as dramatic and murderous as a Spanish soap opera. He says it was
inspired by living and working in Santa Monica.

For the swing start of Soon I’ll Be There, Williams brandishes his clarinet
with the ominous warning “The fun stops now….Here’s the misery stick”. No
need to worry though it’s a great song with heroic twangy guitar and trombone.

My favourite song though has the lines “I found myself alone in a brothel in Cologne on my 19th birthday …. I behaved quite badly as anybody might”
Part Jacques Brel, part Fast Show. It’s not on the album though, so it looks like I’m going to have to see him again to hear it again.

The encore is the theme from The Cincinnati Kid. It’s a bit of a pointer to what the band are doing. Ambitious, cinematic, classily put together,
reflective and comfortable looking backwards. And exactly what I want to be watching.

Reconsider This
Questions
?
Heart Beats
Said I’d Be The One
Little One
Soon I’ll Be There
?
Trust me
Are You Listening?
Black
? (“I behaved badly as anybody might”)
Until We Empty This Bottle
++++++++++
Suddenly Shattered
Cincinnati Kid