SIMPLE RUNNER + THE USUAL ROUTINE + RESTRICTIONS OF LIBERTY + MIDNIGHT SCENE - Dexters, Dundee 31-08-06
The guys from Midnight Scene contacted me to say that they were organising this gig, that it was their first and would I care to review it. Sure I would - although I hoped above hope that they'd be good. Could be a bit embarassing if they blew it!
First band on were Simple Runner - you could tell it was gonna be one of those evenings when, halfway through the following band's set, someone asked me what I thought of this band and then gasped in disbelief when I said I enjoyed them! Welcome to EMO-land! I had to look twice in case I missed something but I could have sworn that this trio were playing two guitars and drums - no bass - and they were, too. If there'd been some big announcement at the beginning that the bass player had been stranded somewhere East of Findo Gask, then I missed it. Either way they were great - American-esue vocal, and an approach that said "why bother with dynamics when you can have all-out attack" as a wall of guitar riffing tore through with drumming propelling it all and giving it strength. They did a cover of Feeder's "Buck Rogers" that had no light or shade and simply sythed its way through to superb effect, EMO-tised and all the better for it. That they covered Blink 182's "All The Small Things" was both unsurprising and a cover too far, in that you shouldn't around with the gems when you have your own that are close enough anyway. Derivative or not, I thought they were good and a refreshing change.
Next up - and with a particularly fanatical following - were The Usual Routine. Here the first thing you noticed was that the vocal was mixed way up, so much so that with the singer really letting rip, it almost overshadowed the instrumentation. That they played their own distinct brand of indie, to which I couldn't readily ascribe any comparisons, was both a blessing and a curse. The first few tracks followed the pattern of starting slowly then suddenly erupting in a sort of emo-core fashion only not as overtly heavy. The second track was a slower juggernaut that worked well while the third track, followed the path just detailed, while the fourth was a stomper with roaring guitar work. That the band had a range of consistent songs was evidenced by "These Dreams" (no, not the old Heart track!!) which has a slow start with impassioned vocals and chiming guitars as it builds into an anthemic indie power ballad. They played a pretty consistent set that went down well, but beacause of what I felt to be an inadeqaute mix and the marked absence of the guitars upfront, particularly compared with the vocals, I don't honestly feel that I got to see what this band are really all about.
My only review of Restrictions Of Liberty seems to have become the subject of some controversy. What I say in these reviews is what I feel and think - from the heart - and if I feel criticism is valid, I'll say it. So, I criticised - and have taken some flak for it. But I stand by it, all the same. So, it was with much interest that I stood there, wondering what would happen now.
It's no word of a lie to say that I stood there jaw-dropped from the opening track - having to pinch myself that this was the same band. The track showed ultra tight playing with some steaming riffs, a great lead guitar and crushing drums, solid bass and bluesy, in-tune vocals. To my great surprise and delight, next one up was a cover of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" that was just a stunner - even Crawler, a local covers band, couldn't have done it this well - the thing surged ahead and the band did it more than justice, with suitably booze-soaked vocal and some stirring guitar work amid the trademark riffs that chug it all along. Without actually sounding like them, I thought the third track was a tad Thin Lizzy-esque only more raw, just as tight and bluesy too with some steaming guitar riffs and more consistent vocals. Fourth track was faster and harder still, but just some great hard-rocking bluesy rock. I was interrupted by a conversation with Middens' singer during the next track, but was attentive when it came to track 6 and the lead guitarist came to the mic, peered over at me and pointed "you know who this one's dedicated to" - as everyone turns round and I smile back and try to look nonchalant - and announced Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" - the instrumental with the drum solo. Now I still hold that if you're doing a Battle of the Bands, you do not do a drum solo - anytime, anyplace, anywhere - but here, over halfway through the set, it made perfect sense, and after the opening riffs from the guitar, the drummer showed what he can do - and, boy, can he do it. The guy only looks young but he pummelled the shit out of those drums and in a musical way, too. You couldn't help but admire and appreciate it. I don't know who felt better - me or the band. They closed with a track that was more a slice of sleaze rock than anything with a sort of FNM rap style hard rock blues vocal (if that makes any sense) and I felt it wasn't a terribly strong track to close with, but then they elected to do a "final final" number and launched into Dire Straits "Sultans Of Swing" - now I don't like Dire Straits at all, but this is a great song all the same. Honestly, after this performance, you'd never listen to the original again - this had guts, power, all the trademarks of the original, but a raw approach allied to the quality guitar work, that put this streets ahead of the original - and that was that. A mighty and consistent set from a band who really can deliver the goods, after all.
Midnight Scene finished the evening. Their first gig, and they had an image that looked very professional. Right from the opening track, two things became evident - first, this was a band where the songs were the thing - everything revolved around the songs, and, second, they were the sort of quality but mid-paced indie songs that were gonna have a tough time, in pure dynamic terms, following the previous band. But, they played it strong nevertheless. Without actually sounding like them - noone could - I was remided of The Smiths in the way that the songs and their story-telling and from-the-heart lyrics would be the overriding thing on which you focused while the instrumentation was quality but only occasionally rose to the surface. Again, as with The Usual Scene, the vocals were way upfront, but this time not overly so, as a track such as "Same Old Story" rang out with its chiming guitars and tale-telling lyrics, delivered, it has to be said, by a guy with a good vocal and a strong delivery. The fourth track, "The Sound Of The Street", was an "arms-in-the-air" swayer that turns into a more chunky
and solid driving chugger of a piece while "Teardrops In The Rain" decelerated things a little with its repeated chorus refrain as just vocals and guitar provide a short but passionate performance. What they described as their reggae number actualy sounded more like souped-up ska-punk and I'm not overly sure if it works for them but there ya go. More thought-out lyrics this time balanced by a punkier apparoach with a strange kind of "dum-de-dum" chorus. "Help Me Out" was another one just for guitar and vocal, with an impassined vocal and solid guitar backing. They ended things with an indie rocker that had the audience jumping, and that was it. They did have a bit of a fight with the mix and I felt, as with the 2nd band, the guitars could have been upfront more. But, that said, for a first gig, they can feel proud to have got through it unscathed but their more introspective brand of indie song-writing commerciality, would decree that they'd be well advised to check who they have to follow on in concert on the future - their brew of slower paced songwriting quality does not follow a rockin' band, that's for sure. I'm sure you'll hear more of these guys - it's (very) early days!