A fiver. Some people spend this much on a cup of coffee yet on this
particular Thursday night at Oxford Art Factory, punters were treated to
not one, not two but four bands. It therefore goes without saying that
much bang was had for this particular buck.
The first act were
Brown Bear Black Bear, a trio of lads (plus a guest musician) playing
bass, drums and guitars. They performed catchy indie rock with slight
curveballs, something like a Red Riders-meets-The Cure styling. Though
they performed to a very small smattering of punters (and many of these
appeared to be friends and relatives of the group), they impressed this
reviewer with their infectious guitar licks and dirty bass lines.
The
songs had some nice harmonies and some moments even segued off into an
intergalactic style lime twist. We all giggled as we were thanked for
coming to see this over musical luminaries like Dru Hill and Shannon
Noll (what the?) They performed songs like “Kristen” and “Jeff Goldblum”
and pulled out an excellent opening set with their most noteworthy
quality being their choice of strange guitar tunings (like those used by
Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes fame). This gave the
usual three chords or so such a fabulous new life and proved a real
highlight of the evening.
Betty Airs followed, the trio is made
up of Darren Cross (Gerling), Michael Zagoridis and Cristian Campano and
they played guitar and drum-fuelled music like The Mess Hall or White
Stripes but with a ring-in singer. And boy was this guy a character! To
look at he could’ve been any random working in a hip clothing department
but with his delivery he seemed to think he was either Johnny Rotten or
Morrissey. With a crooner’s style mic, he fell flat of the greats and
actually sounded a lot like Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale. However, this
didn’t stop him flapping around the stage with boundless gusto and
enthusiasm, with a particular emphasis on the latter.
The guys
played a dirty rockabilly-style cacophony at times hinting at
Philadelphia Grand Jury and at other moments, The Living End, the latter
almost confirmed by the guitarist’s 50s-style coiffe. They played
“Standing/Waiting” and “Jennifer’s Enemy” and survived a false start to
play the rock card to the nines with a fiery passion.
And then we
were onto something a little different, Pluto Jonze, who had a swag bag
full of gadgets and gizmos. The first obvious addition was in the form
of three tiny TV screens playing various video loops including volume,
static and speedy visuals and this added an extra visceral element to
the proceedings. This and the combination of a theremin, keyboards and
drums meant we were in for a space oddity of sorts.
The audience
seemed a little stunned by the unconventional tracks and multifaceted
sonic interludes but it was not bad as we were treated to some wailing
Hendrix-like guitar. However, lyrics about plastic bags in a hurricane
were a little difficult to swallow, not to mention the sound
occasionally veering into ear-bleeding territory. At other moments the
noises synonymous with space were left for moon dust and the audience
were instead transported thousands of metres below sea level to a wet
reef wonderland.
Adventurous and eclectic, their set made me
think about how Split Enz were received during the heady early days when
the crazy art rock and theatrics dominated their performance. The other
obvious comparison would be to the sample king AKA Gotye. In short, the
set felt like we were stepping out of the future only to be surrounded
by binary code and sent even further forward – light years even – into
space.
When Guineafowl and band hit the stage at 10:40 the crowd
had grown considerably and the venue was around three quarters full. The
group quickly endeared themselves to us with their shiny pop, crunchy
electronic bits and soaring harmonies. As the fans were faced with a bit
of room to manoeuvre, many seized the opportunity to dance, dance,
dance along with the darling six piece.
“Little Fingers” was full
of sheer optimism and is about the major changes you can bring about
with the smallest of gestures. Full of sweet hopefulness, this could be
the band’s answer to Cloud Control’s “Gold Canary,” as it’s one goose
that lays a golden egg when performed live and needless to say, sparks
flew.
“In Our Circles” was a bopping little ditty that saw
Guineafowl play some guitar licks that seemed to be inspired by U2’s The
Edge. While “Mothr” opened with a brief homage to Animal Collective, it
would segue off into old-time theatrics and a feel not dissimilar to
Dappled Cities’ “Holy Chord”.
The Shins would prove the next
musical reference on “Guillotine,” as the group were all smiling and
joyous while they rolled with their uplifting and shiny tunes. The
following songs would prove major sources of frivolity and gaiety, with
youthful exuberance cutting thickly in the air and providing a perfect
foundation for their single, the claptastic, “Botanist”.
With the
show almost over the group would return to the stage for a one-song
encore, a cover of The Cure’s “Close To Me”. There was a dash of
silliness in the air as Guinea and guitarist played sans shirts and the
crowd were in raptures over the big hit. Basically, if anyone wasn’t
acting like a big kid before the encore than Mr. Bobby Smith’s
composition got them over the mark and was like hundreds and thousands
on a rather delicious ice-cream sundae.
In sum, the four bands put on one great show. And if you’re still not convinced of this fact consider:
Cost of movie: $18
Cost of the gig: $5
Seeing a bunch of unsigned yet precious acts performing their music with copious amounts of enthusiasm and aplomb: priceless.