Land of Talk/Menomena.

Korova, Liverpool, 1/3/08.

Was looking forward to seeing LoT again, even though it was the Korova, not my fave venue. They were playing with Menomena a band I'd come across a while back and was still undecided about to be honest. They're from Portland though so they had that on their side.

For some reason I struggled to find somewhere to stay, my normal dive was fully booked. I ended up getting a place about 3 miles out northwest of the city center. I was off work and with it being a Saturday I pre-booked a table at my fave French restaurant, so went up about 2pm. Got sorted and got to the restaurant about 7, had a nice meal too.

Got to the Korova about quarter to 9 and enquired what time the bands were on. To my surprise I was told they would be running on time tonight and LoT would be on by 9:30. There were a few people about but nobody I knew. It wasn't long before Chris and Eric came out and started setting up, no sign of Lizzie yet.

She soon came out they introduced themselves and opened with a new song. I don't know the titles of the new material so it's a bit tricky at the mo. Last time I saw them their set was 66% new this time it was 75% new. It all sounded good though, the song they played after "Stateside" stood out. I tried to ask Chris after the name but forgot which song it followed, dork!. Lizzie in fairness was not a well lady, she was suffering from a bad cold. During one song she suffered a

coughing fit and had to skip a line of vocal, she kept her guitar playing up to scratch though which was admirable. I hadn't noticed before but she has a cute way of standing on her toes with her left leg while playing, and sort of dancing on it. Again they were super though and the new stuff sounding good.

The main band was Menomena a three piece from Portland. I'd heard their stuff and wasn't too sure about them to be honest, so seeing them live would make my mind up I hope. First thing is they're fairly hi-tech with a lot of gadgetry. The lead singer switches between guitar and sax and there is a lot of different sounds to their songs.

The three of them are quite multi-instrumentalist, though I didn't know their material I quite enjoyed them. I can't really pick any songs that stood out but their big sound was enjoyable and sort of washed over you at times.

After she finished Lizzie said hi and apologized for having pneumonia. I was talking to Chris later and asked him how the album was coming on. He said it's as good as finished and they'er just looking for someone to release it. Looking forward to that one, the year needs something.