Kudzu were on first and they seem to have some good ideas, notably displaying elements of Isis and Tool overtones and some good riffs. However, they appear a little uncomfortable on stage, which is not necessarily their fault, but it doesn’t allow for their music to sound as mature as it could. One can’t help feeling that they’re a bit stuck within the confines of what they want to be, and that they could improve greatly if they played together for longer and simplified their songs somewhat; although having said that, I think that this was their penultimate gig.
Champion Kickboxer were up next and theirs is a sound of originality and warmth. It’s simple and stripped down, concerned mainly with experimenting with the fundamentals of pop: Melody, harmony, timing and song structure. At times it didn’t quite gel and the singing was a bit out of tune, but overall their songs were interesting and had an endearing quality. With time, and practice, they’ll evolve into a very good and original band.
I’m struggling to find anything constructive to say about Me Against the World. The riffs in their songs have been played a million times before and I’m pretty sure I still have similar ones ringing in my ears from gigs I went to when I was sixteen. Furthermore, I can’t really work out why a band from Hertfordshire sing with American accents? Sorry guys.
Swound! have been gaining a fair bit of interest as of late, with some Radio One airplay and good reviews of their last demo, What’s Your Poison? They’re catchy and energetic, combining pop-punk hooks with twiddly, (modern) emo-style riffs and a mixture of sung/spoken melody and some irrelevant screaming. I say irrelevant, because it doesn’t really seem to have much point, adding nothing to the overall sound aesthetic, but rather seems to be done simply because that’s what other bands of the same ilk have done. They have the components (see those listed above) needed to become a popular band, but personally I felt that they lacked any real originality.
The great thing about tonight was that none of the bands were posturing or posing (outside of the re-staged band ‘jump’ that Swound!, jokingly, did for Mr Photographer) or trying to fit in with a scene by throwing premeditated shapes on stage. The problem, though, is that there is nothing great to say about the majority of the music that was on display here. However, one should keep in mind that these are all bands that are relatively new, and therefore have plenty of time to grow.
Click here for the full gallery from the night
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