Thursday 11 October 2007

Issue #1 - Reviews Part Two

REVIEWS
THESE NEW PURITANS
White Heat @ Madame Jojos

You may have heard things about These New Puritans, one such thing being that they are really rather good. So it is with some trepidation that we venture out to witness their show at Madame Jojos…I mean, The Next Big Thing being shown up to be a musically-challenged shambles of crap hair and daft clothing (the colour coordination of which, or lack of, being the most remarkable thing about them)? Never…..

Thankfully, this is not the case with TNP. Four youths from Southend, they bizarrely resemble some kind of humanoid race of martians, and make the sort of music you would hope such a race would make. Their one concession to garish gear is the singer’s gold lame shirt, which may well end up on the racks of Top Shop if TNP succeed in getting their music out to the masses. But this is neither here nor there.

Their music, based around pounding rhythms, certainly recalls the post-punk stylings of PiL, Gang of Four and Joy Division. At times, however, it descends into such danciness that recalls the big beat bands of the late 90s. On top of this, swirling synths and scratchy guitars (which bring to mind Sonic Youth & My Bloody Valentine as well as the aforementioned post-punk bands) lend the sound some melodic respite, but it is when TNP let the beats dictate proceedings that they really shine.

From Southend to where? The racks of Top Shop at very least, if tonight’s show is anything to go by.

Noggs Mannberger
THE RESISTANCE
The Pleasure Unit

These past few years have seen many a monkey try to combine laptops’n’guitars in a faux-fashionable attempt to make something ‘modern’, something ‘new’…in reality, people often just end up making something ‘shit’, and I should know, I used to do it meself.

The Resistance do not. One gets the distinct impression that their use of laptops’n’guitars is a necessity. And necessities aren’t all humdrum, you know. Certainly not in their case. Because there is nothing, repeat, nothing humdrum about The Resistance.

If you get the chance to hear their current promo, don’t bother. Witness their dribbling psychopath of a live show instead. Because what lies on CD does not do the outfit any justice of any kind. Where you might describe the more upbeat moments on the CD as ‘lively’, in the flesh they become ‘raucous.’ To say the least.

Four young men who look like various members of the Mary Chain, House of Love, MBV and other Creation geniuses, their setup is like so – two noisey guitars put through effects units, one laptop making a synthesised racket of samples, and one towering singer knocking out the beat (yes, the beat) on the floor with a tambourine. Well, if simple percussion worked for the Velvets & the Mary Chain…

And indeed the songs are sometimes reminiscent of the way the Mary Chain would combine white noise with those Beach Boys-esque melodies. However, this is, ahem, ‘modern.’ Behind the band a psychedelic projection displays an array of images that compliment the group’s riotous freak-out well, despite being soaked in rather more rock’n’roll cool than the rest of the live experience would suggest.

So, The Resistance…I might end up contradicting myself here but it must be said….something indeed ‘new’, certainly something ‘modern.’ But definitely nothing ‘shit.’

Horacio Mitchell

THE RESISTANCE PLAY THE VAPOUR TRAIL ON DECEMBER 12TH.

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