Deerhoof.

Deerhoof, Barfly Liverpool 24/6/07.


I was off this Sunday so decided to go up to Liverpool on the 3:15 train to arrive about 4 pm. Got to my hotel and booked in. I went to see if the French restaurant I used last time was a) open on a Sunday b) still there! I haven't been to Liverpool to eat for a while. Positive on both accounts. I then went to check the venue, I quite like the Barfly it's my favorite venue in Liverpool. I had a wander round for a while and decided to go and eat at about 5:45 ish.
After a nice meal and a quick pint at a fave pub I got to the Barfly at about 7:40.

I had a venue pick-up ticket so the guys on the door took a quick look at my confirmation e-mail, stamped my hand and let me in. There were only a few people there at this point, but the opening band, called, Stig were setting up. They quickly got going much to everybody surprise, well mine.
They were ok though, quite quirky with a guy who played trumpet and a guy sat down playing a form of slide guitar.

Next up were a Scottish band I've checked out before called Danananakroyd. Again not bad I'll keep an eye on them and see how they go. By now the venue was pretty full so I took up residence at the front of the stage, Corin's side.

Another band came on called Kit, these were quite good. The lead singer was a girl who was cute and held the stage well. I can't seem to find any info on them though. I'll keep trying.

By the time the Hoof came on the place was packed and I had a great position at the front right in front of Greg's drum kit. He only plays a very limited kit, a bass drum a standard drum (I forget it's proper name) a hi-hat and a cowbell. I like the way he plays I've never seen anyone use a kit like that before. Greg plays off all the rims and the stands of his kit. How he tunes them I've no idea, fascinating to watch though. They opened up with the title track of the Milkman album then played a load of stuff off the new album. One highlight being "the perfect me". Satomi is great to watch too, she's quite

tiny but can really rock out with her bass. I like her contradictory vocal style too, which comes across better live than on record I think. During "Dog" she came up to the front row with a small fluffy toy in her hand and made everyone stoke it, I thought the guy next to me was going to pinch it off her but he didn't.

At the end I nipped up and grabbed Greg's set list, much to the annoyance of the guy next to me. I think he had his eye on it too, Ha!! As I got back Greg came out and started chatting to us at the front. I said about his drum style, he just laughed, shrugged his shoulders and said "it's just the way I play".

I also got a show poster for £2, but there were no T's which was a shame. I'm glad I finally got to see the Hoof though, really enjoyable.

There's an e-mail going off to Stuart Maconie with some pics tomorrow.

Indefinite Hiatus Day.

1 down 4 to go???

Today is the 1 year anniversary of the IH announcement.
It sparked off all mayhem on the message board. Then the mad scramble for tickets for the last shows of the East Coast tour. As soon as I read the post I made my mind up to do as many of final shows possible. I always had it in the back of my mind that some "other" shows would be added. So it was that Portland x 2 was announced, having already committed to do the East Coast there was no way I was going to miss Portland.

The rest as they say is history.

In the 12 months we've seen Janet become a Jick, and drum on every album released by everbody!
Corin has been occasionally spotted and has made a couple of charity appearances, one where she played a few "new" songs. This prompted shouts of "solo album ?"
Carrie on the other hand had not been seen or heard of until a couple of months back where she too played some songs for a local charity gathering. She played Funeral Song too, apt!. She said that it had been a long time since she'd picked up a guitar. Aw!

So there you go, is it 1 down 4 to go? who knows.

You Say Party! We Say Die!

Night & Day, Manchester 22/6/07.

Had a bit of a nightmare getting to Manchester on this evening. I got the 4:54 train and everything was going ok until the train stopped about a minute outside Newton-Le-Willows, which is the last stop before we get to Manchester. After about 15/20 mins it was announced the emergency brakes had come on and someone was coming to fix them. Ten mins latter they announced the train had "failed" we were then towed to Newton station told to get off the train and a new one would come and take us to Manchester. While all this was going on there was a huge thunder storm and it was pouring with rain. After about 15 mins stood at Newton station and no sign of a relief train I just asked if any 3 other people fancied sharing a taxi to Manchester to spread the cost. One guy said he would and another chap said he and his mate had to get there asap, as they were going to see a show at the MEN arena. We eventually got a taxi and I got to my hotel at about 8pm. The lucky traveller tag has taken a dent there I think!
So not too bad for time I chuck my stuff in my room and get to the N & D at about 8:20 ish.

The support band were called the Alones from Stoke a three piece band who were ok the singer/guitarist had a very Liamesque feel about him and they played just standard pop-punk tunes. That said they were ok and watchable.

It was not long before YSPWSD started setting up. I saw them twice last year and they are a band that do translate very well live. In fact I'd go as far to say they are better live than on record, and they're damn fine on
record Their new album had only come out on Monday so I only had 4 days to get acquainted with it. It's typical YSP though and not too dissimilar to their previous album. So I knew what to expect.

Becky came on sporting her usual mask and they opened with a new song. I'm not up to speed on the titles of the new material yet. Most of the set was from "Loose all time" with some old favorites. I think I've mentioned before how good Becky is live. She dances using ballerina type moves to the songs which makes her so watchable, the trouble is you can tend to focus to much on her and forget how good the rest of the band are.

Again YSPWSD impressed imensley and remain a great live band. I would have thought the new interest for upbeat dance/punk in this country may have brought them a bigger audience. More airplay on radio and a higher profile, though I get the impression they arn't far away.

Currently Listening to :-

Land of Talk - Applause cheers boo hiss.

As I've mentioned previously I'm loving this 7 song mini album.
Canadian, again, three piece led by singer/guitarist Lizzie.






Hey Lover - Self titled.



Just got this, ordered it ages ago direct
from the band themselves. A two piece garage-punk band from
Portland (center of the universe)

Lonelady - Have no past EP.

Picked this up in Piccadilly records recently. I saw her supporting Quasi last year, she reminded me a bit of Polly Harvey.

Mary Timony - The shapes we make.

The eagerly awaited album from MT. She had a hard act to follow with Ex-Hex. At first I was a bit disappointed with this but after a couple of weeks I'm liking it, I'm sure it's one that gets better the more you play it






Help she can't swim - The death of nightlife.

Still playing this, I found it patchy at first. More accessible than their first album though, less screemy vocals.

Ill Ease - All systems a go go.

Again I've been after some of this girls work for a while. US version of Lonelady I supose. Just got it so yet to form an oppinion first impressions good though.




Ok that's some of the stuff on rotation at the mo, of course I'm playing shed loads of other stuff but these are the new arrivals.

Silversun Pickups

Night & Day, Manchester 31/5/07.

So after being in Germany for a week I fly back into Manchester Thurs. I land, get my bag, get a train to Piccadilly and get to the hotel all for 2 pm. I was looking forward to seeing the SSPU's their album last year was one of the best "new" discoveries of the year.

I book in and ask Nadia if I can use the Internet (there's an Internet cafe attached to the hotel). I wanted to check my mail and have a quick catch up on S-K net and TMO etc. I also just wanted to check the gig was still on. Nadia lets me do this foc, being a good customer and all.

After doing this I have a quick wander round Piccadilly Records. I didn't buy anything, wasn't sure what I was looking for and nothing hit me. I then wandered off to have something to eat in time for the gig.

I got to N & D at about 8 and walked straight in. I bought a drink and had a scout round. After about 30 mins or so the place started to fill a little which was good. I made my way to Corins side and lent up against the piano (often mentioned in my N & D posts).

The support band came on, I didn't catch their name though I think it may have been Coldplay mk2. I didn't like them at all even the vocalist had the creepy presence of C*** Martin. Bland as f**k then.

By the time SSPU's started setting up the crowd had filled. Just right too, enough room to manoeuvre yet enough people to create a good atmosphere. They launched into "well thought out twinkles" which really blew me away. Their sound was crisp, good and loud yet you were able to pick out the different line by Brian (guitar) and Niki (bass). Brian Aubert the guitarist was really energetic and had all the posses of a good rock guitarist, without being too corny. The drummer, again set quite back on the stage (N & D), was excellent and even made Janet's head rockin' look tame. They rocked through most of the songs on their album making them seem
heavier and more vibrant that the recorded versions. The bass player Niki was also excellent and played some super thick lines. She also had a cute way of jumping in and out of her bass lines. A bit like Corin sometimes did when she felt the chord she was playing shudder through her body. She was fascinating to watch and you could see her loosing herself in the music at times. In all they are the best band I've seen this year.

Not only that but the best band t-shirt I've seen too.

Besnard Lakes

Night & Day, Manchester 23/5/07.


Besnard Lakes were the main act that Land of Talk supported.
I've posted separately because I think LoT deserved a post of their own, it was them I was there to see after all.

Ok. BS are a six piece Canadian band. Three guitarists, a bass player, keyboardist and drummer. With all these on stage they create a big sound. Fortunately the sound was good this night, it's normally ok at the N & D to be fair.

The best point of ref I can give for them is the Arcade Fire. I would say they are a slightly more progy AF. Or a poor mans AF, if you like. As I'm not that big on Arcade Fire BL passed me by a little.

There was nothing wrong with them, excellent musicians, good sound, just not for me I'm afraid. If it wasn't for Land of Talk I would not have been there anyway, so I'll treat them as the support band.

Land of Talk

Night & Day, Manchester 23/5/07.

Got to the N & D in plenty of time here because L o T were the support act to Besnard Lakes. I wasn't sure if there was anyone else on the bill either. There wasn't.

As usual I was not sure what size crowd BS would attract. By the time proceedings got going there weren't too many people there 100 at the most.


Land of Talk are a three piece Canadian band led by singer/guitarist Lizzie. I got their 7 song mini album a few weeks ago and love it. They came on and started with "Speak to me bones" the opening song on the record. It was immediately obvious the sound was really good. Lizzy playing a red strat has a peculiar way of playing. She strums her guitar very often almost on the neck. She stoops and bobs about quite

a lot too. It was noticeable too that the bass player (I tend to notice them) was an excellent musician. Let's put it this way he will never be out of a job. The one thing that was not quite right was that the drummer was set too far back. A problem that often happens at the N & D. Lizzie often was at the back playing at the drummer. That said it was a trivial thing. After about 6 songs most of them, well all but one were off the CD. I shouted out for "All my friends" my fave tune on it, Lizzie said "hey a request, we've never had a request this side of the pond before". "Were gonna play it next".

They ended their set on "friends" which was great as they drew it out to a climax. In all I really enjoyed them, all excellent musicians, good sound and interesting to watch. I went and had a chat with them after bought a 7" and got them to sign it. I'm now known to them as request guy, embarrassingly.

I really love this (mini) album. I like the slight grungy sound on the guitars, and Lizzies vocals. The fact that is only seven songs long makes you wanting more. I wish more bands would produce smaller albums, I've never been keen on overlong or double albums.