The Horrors

The Horrors, The Maccabees, The Fratellis, The Dykeenies at Trent University, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Fri 20 Oct

Review by Dom Gourlay

The Fratellis? Well, I guess one word can sum them up to perfection: 'why'...»

Trent University

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The Horrors

The Horrors are Southend-spawned but London-based goth-y-punks: a little Eighties Matchbox, a little Cramps. You get the deal, aye.

They are known as:

FARIS BADWAN - VOCALS
TOMETHY FURSE - DANELECTRO LONGHORN BASS
JOSHUA VON GRIMM - FENDER JAGUAR
COFFIN JOE - BANGS THE DRUMS
SPIDER WEBB - VOX CONTINENTAL ORGAN

Those aren't names!

MySpace

The Maccabees

Orlando Weeks - Vocals
Hugo White - Guitar
Felix White - Guitar/Vocals
Rupert Jarvis - Bass
Robert Dylan Thomas - Drums

MySpace page

Official biography:

In every British band, there is a little bit of Britain. From the revolutionary sounds of The Clash, to the observations of The Streets, and the character sketches of The Kinks, the musical legacy of this country is rich in bands that somehow couldn’t help be as much about where they’re from, as about where they’re at.

The Maccabees are a young band making big strides towards becoming part of this grand tradition. A decidedly English guitar pop band, whose worldview has been formed by influences as disparate as the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, television cricket coverage and growing up in south London, this is a group with a unique slant on things, and who are eager to share it.

“I think there’s a fine line between ‘British’ and ‘laddish’,” says 22-year-old singer Orlando Weeks. “I don’t think we’re about that – all beer, and the cross of St George, but I do think there’s something quintessentially English about our music.”

That much has already become evident from the group’s releases so far. Their first independently-released single 'X-Ray' was a characterful relationship tale. Their second, the live favourite 'Latchmere', was a reminiscence of going swimming at the titular Battersea leisure centre. Essentially, the band’s strongest material is grounded in experiences particular to its members – just as several band members first met at school, or while playing football, their songs are themselves written about subjects close to home.

“I like to write about things I know about – you’re much less likely to come a cropper if you do that,” says Orlando. “It’s good to face the facts of your life. So maybe you don’t have prostitutes living down the road, or crack houses. I don’t know about that – but I know about 'Latchmere'.”

It’s this kind of self-deprecating, but quietly-confident attitude that one might see as being central to the way that The Maccabees do things. Formed in 2003, when Orlando began rehearsing in his bedroom with drummer Robert Thomas, bass player Rupert Jarvis and guitar-playing brothers Hugo and Felix White, the band have always worked pragmatically with the resources at their disposal.

Having started to play live almost straight away (“When we first started we were like a folk band,” remembers Hugo, “we just played really basically and slowly.”), in the two and a half years since, The Maccabees have got better and better the more they’ve done. From the off, their live show has attempted to develop the kind of rapport with an audience they had once seen The Libertines achieve. Their music, meanwhile, has developed into a nervy and tuneful noise of its own.

Perhaps you’ve already heard it. A band who excel in making succinct pop statements, The Maccabees’ sound is built on the fast but fascinatingly intricate guitar of the White brothers, but it’s their ability with a pop hook that truly marks them out. The Maccabees can do their own version of balladry, but it’s in the call-and-response interaction between Orlando and backing vocalist Felix that you’ll find on songs like 'Lego' and 'X-Ray' that you’ll hear the original essence of this band. If at times the sheer speed of their material threatens to break them down, it’s this pop sensibility that sees them through.

There have, of course, been musical signposts along their way. One inspiration remains Martin Scorcese’s film about the final performance by The Band, The Last Waltz. Another musical direction was pointed out, rather more explicitly, by a DVD of vintage performances from the BBC TV programme The Old Grey Whistle Test.

“We saw bands like XTC, Dr Feelgood and Talking Heads for the first time,” says Felix. “That was quite a big deal for us – seeing bands with a real genuine quirkiness and edge. Now it seems that some of that has been filtered down, to just having ‘spiky guitars’ or whatever – but then, you could hear them physically playing everything, every motion is aggressive. We wanted to sound like that.”

This, essentially, is a band for whom quirkiness is not a problem. Rather than hung up with being cooler-than-thou, instead, in The Maccabees we find a band that is happy with the way it does things, and extremely comfortable in its own skin. “We never tried to be a rock ‘n’ roll band,” says Orlando. “Pop isn’t even a conscious decision for us. We’re just learning about it all, and learning in front of everybody.”

So far, things are looking good for their mission. Now signed to Fiction records, the band are working on a debut album, and are all confident that they’re now doing their dream jobs.

“We want to be able to listen to our debut album and be proud of it,” says Orlando. “Getting a record deal is quite a rare thing, like being a footballer. But if you’re a footballer, your legacy is a statistic.

“We want to leave something that’s really fucking sweet,” he continues. “That’s a good record of us and our noises. Not just ‘12 goals, 16 sendings-off’.

“If you’re happy with it, it’s a pretty nice thing to leave behind…”

It’s an ambitious thing to try and do, but if anyone can, The Maccabees will. This is a band with great songs and great presence. But also – and maybe just as importantly – one with great charm.

The Fratellis

Quick-fire Glaswegian lad-rock.

The Fratellis are Barry, Jon and Mince. Yes, Mince. Like the meat. Wanna make something of it? Like a lasagne?

The trio's website, it can be found here. As with all modern pop bands, they've a MySpace, too - CLICK ME!

You might not know it yet, but The Fratellis aren't brilliant.

The Dykeenies

Band members:

Brian Henderson (lead vocals, synthesiser)
Alan Henderson (guitar)
Andrew Henderson (bass, vocals)
Steven Ramsay (guitar, vocals)
John Kerr (drums, vocals)

About:

The Dykeenies will release their rabidly anticipated debut single 'New Ideas / Will It Happen Tonight' on 17 July 2006. A time for new beginnings as well as New Ideas, the single is also the first release on King Tut's Recordings, the label run by the team behind Glasgow's legendary King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. Reflecting the venue's global reputation for identifying and supporting now-household names at their earliest stages, the label will act as a launch pad for new bands of the highest quality.

The Dykeenies certainly fit that description. Formed in June 2005 in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, this art-pop five-piece - three brothers (Alan, Andrew and Brian Henderson) and two childhood friends (Steven Ramsay and John Kerr) with a natural knack for constructing snappy pop songs. With synth hooks that Brandon Flowers would give up eyeliner for, and guitar riffs that could frazzle We Are Scientists until they're nothing but memories through the bright flame of a bunsen burner, The Dykeenies have struck gold.

Throw in a few handclaps and choruses so welcoming that the words sit in your memory as comfortably as the alphabet after only the first listen and a rehearsing schedule heavy enough to flatten the average man, all The Dykeenies needed to complete the set was an adoring fan base.

Through word of mouth and the power of the internet alone, The Dykeenies sold out their first ever gig: not at their local pub with a capacity of fifty if everyone really squashes in like sardines, but the 350-capacity ABC2 venue in Glasgow's city centre. If the sell-out show a month later at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut was anything to go by, the shiny new band went down rather well with their expectant audience.

It wasn't long before they were being drooled over all around Glasgow and the band soon ventured East for the first time, to play two gigs to increasingly excitable crowds in Scotland's capital, not to mention a sensational show with the Mystery Jets at Glasgow's QMU sandwiched inbetween. Now, with the band barely a year old, a performance on the T-Break stage at T In The Park has been confirmed.

With enough killer tunes already waiting to be unleashed on the world to pop out an album tomorrow (although you'd have to freeze time to give them a chance to lay down the tracks), they may list The Cribs, The Futureheads and Bloc Party amongst their influences, but it won't be long before those guys are asking The Dykeenies for tips.

Both tracks on this double A-side have been a staple of The Dykeenies fans' diet for some time. Now it's time to give the country a taste of the best New Idea since crisps.

Links:

The Dykeenies on Myspace