Quite a buzz has been surrounding Leeds based “post rock” outfit Vessels. With their first record about to be released this month, musical circles have been spinning with aplomb and excitement. And that excitement is well warranted. Their record White Things and Open Devices is one of those that, from the moment you begin listening, creates waves; the sort of waves you’ll most definitely want to ride.
Continue Reading

Fuck Buttons

This is most probably my last ever gig at the Astoria before they knock it down to pave way for shops and cafes or the new Tottenham Court Road station but it’s shaping up to be a goodie. It all begins with Bristol’s Fuck Buttons, who radiate their brand of towering, pristine experimental electronic doom with their Casio keyboards and Nintendo game boys. They drop the twinkling ‘Sweet Love For Planet Earth’ which ascends into brutal fuzzed anguish. Glorious. The one drawback though is they do tend to indulge an awful lot. Where songs seem to stay on an infinite loop but don’t show any progression and a couple of songs do begin to border on being dare I say, tedious? Continue Reading

Ever since the term “math rock” was coined back in the ’80s it’s always been derided by some bands as somewhat of a misnomer. Math has always been a bedfellow of music. The moniker also proved to be a tart joke when the lead singer from Chavez derogatively referred to bands that don’t hang their high hats on complex, atypical rhythmic structures and angular dissonant riffs as merely “4-4 bands.” Somebody got burned!

Math rock has come a long way from those days. All appellations out-of-the-way, the genre (though quite inadequate) is in very good hands. The New York rockers Battles deliver a punch to the ears live that is anchored by former Helmet drummer John Stanier. It’s a novel situation when a band that is scorching the indie rock festival scene as much as Battles is gets the most ink written about its rhythm player. Indie rock isn’t particularly known for banging you over the head with beats since subtlety is the name of the game lately.

Stanier’s drum kit, erected front and center on the ornate Great American Hall flew in the face of being subtle. Jutting upwards about five feet, Stanier’s lone Zildjian K overlooks both the audience and his bandmates. The ride cymbal is the primary timekeeper in most of the jazz world, so its attention is fitting for a band that is known for quicksilver time signatures. Continue Reading