And we’re off. The Constantines open ATP

Originally uploaded by Rick & Mindy

And we’re off. The Constantines open ATP.

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Returning home from work to find the new Hold Steady album sitting on our doormat, two months before its release and before any reviews have appeared on the internets, is just about the most exciting thing that’s happened to this us since we started this blog almost three years ago. Things got even more exciting about thirty seconds later when we pressed play to discover that this is definitely not the album that I had feared it would be. Having become familiar with the title track, with its multiple references to other Hold Steady songs and Boys And Girls In America style singalong power chorus, I was worried that this would be Hold-Steady-by-numbers, an album that practically wrote itself, an attempt to repeat the success of its predecessor at the expense of a wee bit of their considerable integrity. I was wrong: yes, this is undeniably a Hold Steady record but it reaches further than anything they’ve done before and for a large part, eschews those big choruses in favour of added nuance and complexity.

Opener “Constructive Summer” has a verse that is all Hüsker Dü and a chorus that recalls Reckoning era R.E.M., though I’m pretty sure that that comparison flashed into my mind because the songs mentions watertowers a lot. Anyway, it’s a cracking opening and the quality doesn’t let up through the whole eleven song set. Far from sounding jaded after their constant touring through 2007, the band sound energised with Craig Finn’s extraordinary lyrical prowess intact and Tad Kubler at the absolute zenith of his powers. There are horns, harpsichords and synths all serving to expand the sonic palette yet there’s no major advancement in the band’s sound but it’s certainly a more mature piece of work than Boys And Girls with Finn sounding more like Bruce Springsteen than ever before. Aside from “Constructive Summer” other highlights include “Jokes About Jamaica”, “One For The Cutters” and epic closer “Slapped Actress”, although it already sounds like one of those rare albums where your favourite track changes from day to day, with every track a contender.

I’ll probably review this in more depth nearer to its release by which time I might have calmed down a bit but at the moment Stay Positive sounds like it will give Separation Sunday a run for its money in the best Hold Steady album stakes and is a sure-fire contender for album of the year.

The Hold Steady - Stay Positive @ Manchester Academy 2, 26th Feb 2008

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I’ve tried really hard to get into iLiKETRAiNS’ Elegies To Lessons Learnt album but instead I seem to be getting more and more bored with it to the point where all the songs seem to merge into one long leaden dirge. So, I wasn’t terribly looking forward to seeing them live again, though I remember that the last time we saw them they were rather good.

The night ended early for Laymar, who impressed when supporting The Twilight Sad at the Night & Day a few weeks ago, when a laptop malfunction (and, according to witnesses, a bit of inter-band squabbling) minutes before they were supposed to start meant that they didn’t play a single note. Shame. Kyte managed to play, despite the singer complaining of having a terrible cold, and they were pretty good, mixing effects-laden washes of guitar with electronica and xylophones though not really getting the epic sound that they seemed to be striving for. To their detriment the songs all seemed to run into each other and they came off a bit like a poor man’s Maps.

I may have had reservations, but live iLiKETRAiNS are pretty damned great. Despite the mordant tone of the album, and the fact that the band were dressed for a funeral, with added black armbands, they played with an energy that brought the songs to life. At the heart of the band was the drummer, who was the focal point of the action, despite his position at the back of the stage. It was hard to take you eyes off his vigorous drumming especially as black and white films were being projected onto a screen behind him which, with him being quite a big bloke, he took up most of anyway. His relentless energy rubbed off on the other members and helped to imbue the newer songs with a spark that seems to be missing from the album, particularly on the opening “Twenty Five Sins” and the soaring “The Deception”.

The films playing were related to the songs - most of which are effectively essays on infamous chapters of, mostly British, history - and were introduced by the date and location where they took place. It was an effective ploy and meant that the stage was constantly spinning with monochrome imagery; we got chess games for the brilliant “A Rook House For Bobby” and a long list of all the people who died of the plague in a Derbyshire village in the 17th Century for “We All Fall Down”. Best of all were the arctic scenes for undoubted set highlight “Terra Nova”, about Captain Scott’s fateful expedition to the South Pole.

All in all, this was an audio/visual treat and left me wanting to learn more about the songs and especially their dark subject matter. Next time I listen to Elegies For Lessons Learnt it will be from a new perspective.

iLiKETRAiNS - Twenty Five Sins

iLiKETRAiNS - Terra Nova

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After a couple of years out of the limelight it must feel to ¡Forward, Russia! that they’re starting all over again. The last time we saw them it was in front of a healthy crowd in the Academy 2; just over a year later the Academy 3 was barely even half full.

With Johnny Foreigner stuck in Amsterdam it was left to The ABC Club to fill their support slot at short notice, and they did a fine, fine job. Their excellent six song set had me thinking of a collision between The Smiths and The Strokes; not a high-speed collision by any means, more like a fender bender, as the band were almost too laid back and impassive for comfort. However, there were plenty of clever guitar arrangements and dexterous Rourkesque basslines, though the band’s trump card is undoubtedly the striking vocals of Zandra Klievens, whose voice couples the nonchalant drawl of Julian Casablancas with Morrissey’s muted yodelling, in female form. Definitely a band to watch out for.

I’d heard of Grammatics before, but not actually heard them. They were fine - great musicians and the singer has a wonderful voice - but the songs lost their focus as the set wore on and began to elicit more proggy tendencies, leaving us thinking that in a couple of years time, Grammatics may well have fully completed their transformation into Muse.

The relatively small showing for ¡Forward, Russia! did nothing to dim the band’s enthusiasm. The great energy and intensity of their performance remained intact and the crowd responded with a highly animated mosh pit and plenty of crowd surfing and stage diving, some of it the highly dangerous knees first variety that had guitarist Whiskas remonstrating with the offenders. However, the sound mix was appalling: it sounded like the PA’s speaker cones had been stuffed with cotton wool and then submerged in a large tank of sludge. For a band whose music is all sharp edges and thunderous rhythms this had a huge bearing on my enjoyment of the gig.

Also on the downside, I’ve only heard the new album a couple of times and I’m distinctly underwhelmed by it. It certainly doesn’t fire on all cylinders like its predecessor, and it definitely gets a bit too proggy from time to time. I think that if I am going to like it then its going to take a while. With much of the set taken up by foggy renditions of the new material, I spent most of the gig completely impassive to what was going on on stage and in the crowd, “A Prospector Can Dream” the only new song that managed to raise the pulse a little, though the closing “Spanish Triangles” sounded much better than I remember it on record. The oldies they played were great, despite the sound, and included most of my favourites, with “Twelve” and “Nineteen” bringing back memories of previous glorious gigs. This was, however, the least fun I’ve had at a ¡Forward, Russia! gig. Hopefully the album is a bit of a grower and the band will get back to playing bigger venues over the next few months

¡Forward, Russia! - Nineteen

¡Forward, Russia!- A Prospector Can Dream

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Well, it’s been quite a day and a reasonable success with our moblogging experiement. There’s a few kinks to work out but you can scroll down and see a few photos. The proper review will be up in a few days. We were dead impressed with Moulettes - enough to buy a CD - and we will be looking out for upcoming shows.

Cheers to everyone at Bloggerpalooza for setting up quite a special event and letting us take part. We really enjoyed our live DJ’ing debut and we hope everyone liked the tunes. For those of you who just couldn’t get to a computer to hear it streamed live, we’ll post the set sometime in the next couple of days.

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They also recall Jack quite a lot in a good way.

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A better shot of Last Harbour.

A better shot of Last Harbour.

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Originally uploaded by Justhipper

Last Harbour at a very crowded Salford Arms. Like a folky Tindersticks.

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Originally uploaded by Justhipper

Moulettes are good in a way that should make the Decemberists worry.

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Originally uploaded by Justhipper

Moulettes at Sacred Trinity Church. Poppy folk that’s reminiscent of Beirut.

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