Fat White Family at Mine, Leeds University
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This year’s Live At Leeds, which takes place over three days at more than 20 venues across the city, kicks of the night before the Palmas’ show with two very diferent gigs. On Friday night at The Cockpit, Brighton duo Blood Red Shoes play a ferce Friday night headline set, while across town at Brudenell Social Club, London musos Melt Yourself Down churn out their infectious jazz-funk fusion. On Saturday, the afternoon slot at the Met Uni shows of some local produce as Leeds-based duo Menace Beach unleash a caustic ‘Teenage Jesus’. With Liza Violet in a white jumper as fuzzy as their guitars and Ryan Needham wearing a cardigan over his Sonic Youth T-shirt, they appear oblivious to the frst rays of summer heating the city outside. In the early evening, south London trio Happyness play to a small but appreciative audience at Brudenell Social Club. Though their sound veers between country, American college rock and raucous rock’n’roll, the genre hops are neatly segued with Benji Compston and Jonny Allan’s of-kilter song introductions (“this song’s about the person at the party who kills everyone”). ‘Montreal Rock Band Somewhere’ rounds of the set, with the two vocalists sharing speak-singing duties and ending in a frenzied dual guitar/bass attack. At O2 Academy Leeds, Chlöe Howl struts back and forth in a black crop top and A-line miniskirt, grinning and pouting through ‘Drop In The Ocean’ and ‘No Strings’. A hyperactive lightshow does a neat job of distracting from an occasional lack of direction. Final track ‘Rumour’, with its
Chlöe Howl at O2 Academy Leeds
Blood Red shoes
How good?
LInE-up
melt youRselF doWn
menaCe BeaCh
Fat White Family on… …going on far too early
White Pizza [at Belgrave music Hall]. i like playing in leeds, man. The north, generally, is more fun. They’re a bit more… ‘oop for it’. Then you get up to glasgow and it’s just a little too much.”
refrain “I’m just trying to Saul Adamczewski (guitar): “Tonight was a really good work out how to be myself”, crowd. We were elevated quite may not be intentionally high so you could see everyone.” autobiographical but …going mental at every gig Lias Saoudi (vocals): “There strikes a chord, as yet Lias: “if it’s every time, then was no-one there at first…” physically you start to feel a bit another pithy pop ditty Saul: “That’s ’cos we went on sick after two or three shows. clouds her evident 10 minutes early!” But other than that, it’s always vocal talent. a pleasure. Stagediving – give it A stark counterpoint a bash. Sometimes they just drop to Howl’s pop posturing …Leeds hospitality you though and it’s humiliating. is provided by surf-psych Lias: “last time we played, in you gotta pick yourself up.” February, they made us a Fat hedonists The Wytches, who ignite the uni’s packed venue, Mine. The Brighton three-piece careen straight into bassist Dan Rumsey wind up in the audience, their swampy, screaming garage rock. Singer held aloft by their fans. Kristian Bell peers occasionally out from It’s a tough act to follow, but Fat White under the hair that curtains his face, wrestling Family appear unfazed (or possibly oblivious). his guitar and strangling his vocal cords A stumbling start to ‘Auto Neutron’ makes for through the tortured punk of ‘Wire Frame an unconvincing entrance. Only singer Lias Mattress’ and ‘Wide At Midnight’. The venue’s Saoudi seems engaged with the task at hand security guards get visibly twitchy as their as the rest of the band bumble around behind set progresses and the crowd gets boisterous; him, talking into each others’ ears and gazing The Wytches appear to have picked up a few around, distracted. For a long moment, it’s tips on guitar-based riot incitement from unclear whether they have even begun, or if tourmates Pulled Apart By Horses, who this is supposed to be a soundcheck. As they will later reduce the Brudenell Social Club to pull it together, the psychedelic jam begins a mass of failing limbs at the end of the night. to gel. The song builds to its multi-vocal Ending on ‘Crying Clown’, both Kristian and crescendo, with Lias a paroxysm of red-faced,
happyness
Chlöe hoWl
the WytChes
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2 Ne w Mu sical ex pre s s | 1 7 May 2 0 14
Fat White Family
palma violets
dum dum giRls
danny pane, giles smith
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