Okay catchup time. I fell behind early in January and never caught up.

This month’s bands

Bands I liked

The Wharves, Ultimate Painting, Sarcasm, Iceage, OAE Experience Ensemble, Menace Beach, Half Waif, Rose Elinor Dougall, Echobelly, Asylums, Freak, Cabbage, Black Honey, Sacred Paws, Pixx

Bands that were okay

Girl Ray, Shards and Strange Boy, Love Buzz, Alice Barlow, James Canty, Little Cub,

Bands I won’t be going out of my way to see again

Josh Vine, 924s, Throwing Snow, 

Best Gig

January was a really strong month. But the highlight was Black Honey, Cabbage and Freak. Although my view of Cabbage has since changed, at the time, I thought they were the real deal. Black Honey, were excellent as always.

Best new band

At the time, it was Cabbage. But due to the issues later in the year, I’ve no plans to see them again.

Albums of the Month

• Terrorist Synthesiser (EP) – Cabbage
• Young, Dumb and Full of… – Cabbage
• Lemon Memory – Menace Beach
• Stellular – Rose Elinor Dougall

Best photo

The first evening’s line-up was known to me. Girl Ray opened the evening. They’re pleasant, but don’t do much for me. They were then followed by the excellent Wharves who played a few new songs. Closing the evening were Ultimate Painting. I’d seen them a few times and have their first two albums. They’re formed out of Mazes and Veronica Falls and seem heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground’s third album. You know the relaxed, stoner VU album.

The second evening was more of an unknown for me. The headline act, Martha are brilliant. They’re fun, engage with the audience, and they have lyrics that are about things that matter to them. I find them refreshing amongst the sea of indie bands with little to say. Tonight was no exception, with a well observed comment on how supermarkets create beautifully crafted adverts celebrating the family at Christmas, despite the fact that their staff were all having to work Boxing Day. Their set was a brilliant start to the year.

The other two bands were also enjoyable. The first band, Average Sex were engaging. Initially I wasn’t too keen on Radiator Hospital. Their first song was just didn’t work for me. But after that was out of the way. (Or I adjusted to them) They settled down into some mighty fine DIY indie and were thoroughly enjoyable.

So not a bad introduction to 2017.

First up was Dearbhla Minogue. She’s the lead singer of the bands the Wharves and the Drink. Both bands I like. Today was a solo set. Playing solo, this was a very different experience than with her bands. She has a very distinctive voice and a great guitar style. Although I enjoyed the set, the Wharves material definitely worked better with the harmonies of the other members of the band. But still enjoyable.

Next was Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay playing a great set of acoustic guitar pieces

Closing the afternoon was Paperface. It was pleasant music, with one really nice song.

Bookshop.

House Plants

Seeds of Doubt

Seed of Doubt

Fever Dream

Fever Dream

Joya

Hunck

Hunck

The Wharves

The Wharves

The Wharves

I saw Kid Wave earlier in the year and thought they were good. I’ve been enjoying their EP for a few months and their new album is great. Support was from the Wharves. A band I seem to keep missing. I’ve had the album for a few months and it’s another great album. So I was looking forward to tonight’s gig.

Starting the evening off was a band called Bruising. As each song started I wasn’t sure about them but oddly by the end of the song, I found I was really enjoying them. This is despite the fact that I wasn’t sold by the mixing of the lead vocalists voice. She was a bit talky at times. This was okay. A little low in the mix. But usually at some point the song, she would sing – or rather shout and sing and I really wasn’t taken by this. But despite my reservations. I actually enjoyed their set. So something’s clearly working.

Bruising

It turns out I have seen some of the Wharves before. The lead singer is also the singer in the Drink. Again, I was impressed by her voice and this time there was a more respectful crowd and it turned out to be a rather delightful voice. Aided by great harmonies from the second vocalist and bass player. I need to mention how good all three of this band are. The drums had a great ‘meaty’ sound. The bass player played some great melodic bass and the lead singer’s guitar playing is beyond the usual quality of a singer / guitarist. All this wouldn’t be any use if the music they write together is rubbish. Luckily, it’s not. They’ve managed to create a pretty decent sound. Blending some unusual harmonies with some solid indie songs.

Closing the evening were Kid Wave who raised the energy level with a great set. They really are becoming pretty tight and with added familiarity of their new album. The set didn’t miss a beat. I really don’t think there was any weak point. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.