Weird, Noisy,

Posted on 25th Jul 06 by Liam Tyrrell | 0

Artist: Hoovers " Sledgehammers" The Ultra Montanes" Star Belgrade.
Author: Liam Tyrrell

…and the Professional Touch

It"ll be grand now when they link up both those LUAS lines" the walk down to Crawdaddy gets longer every time" and that"s without the dilemma of whether Tara St or Westland Row is closer" and in this heat" well I"ll tell you" I was dripping like undercoat off a poorly painted ceiling by the time I arrived. Friday night though" and three hot bands on the line up" so I wasn"t too bothered" a little hot" but not bothered. Tonight"s menu included Hoovers and Sledgehammers" The Ultra Montanes and headliners Star Belgrade. A veritable feast then" and after picking myself up a copy of The Montane"s latest E.P. for the princely sum of no Euro at the door" I wander in to the rather decadent surrounds of Dublin"s trendiest and most diverse venue" well that"s what they put in the press release for the tourist mags anyhow.
To be fair" and it"s only fair to be fair remember" Crawdaddy is a nice place" looks like the kind of place you"d get given out to for touching anything in" but it still has its charms" a large well stocked bar being one of them" except if you"re looking for pineapple juice that is" or a nice cup of tea.

The music was just starting as we were let in" as the first act came on stage there was a still a man from some undisclosed location guarding the entrance with a rather expensive looking velvet rope to aid him. Funny I thought" usually they like to let the crowd build up so the first act doesn"t feel like it"s just him and the barman. The barman himself was enjoying proceedings though so it seemed like no one really minded" and with a grand total of six chairs scattered casually around the floor there wasn"t much chance of a sit down even if you had arrived two hours early.

Hoovers and Sledgehammers then" kicking things off with a punchy acoustic number" all about the 46A and things being animal" homage to Mr. Dempsey or pulling the rug from under him I wasn"t sure" but with the way the rest of this set panned out it didn"t really matter. Earl Mustard" the aforementioned Damomaniac" relinquished his acoustic guitar and retreated behind the drum kit" he was joined by a bizarre looking Igor Honey" sporting a gorgeous wet"weather rig out and wielding a Paul McCartney style bass. Interesting" I thought" and it was. Lyrical highlights included" "Nothing annoys me more than hippy chick with a guitar""" "A man blows a saxophone in the United States" "100"" "Joyridin" doin" time in a wheelchair"" and so on with the madness" all accompanied by syncopated beats and pounding bass. At one point things took a turn for the trippy as Igor whipped out a fretless bass and hit it heavy on the fuzz pedal Harry" and all the while some strange kind of Gregorian chant was issuing from behind the kit. Too odd for my blood I think but a brave and edgy show" in fact" I might even have paid to see it" maybe" if it was a euro in.

Next up The Ultra Montanes. With no discman" or should that be portable compact disc player so we don"t get into that whole hoover/vacuum cleaner argument again" in my bag" "we"ve all gone so totally digital don"t you know"" I couldn"t wait to hear what delights might await me on the shiny round gift I"d acquired at the door. The band line up with a heady mix of guitar" bass" drums" keys" and vocals" the classic combo" but could they make the system work for them" They charged out of the blocks" the keys player"s a girl" worth a look fellas" and she knows how to tinkle those ivories" or synthetic enamels or whatever the hell keys are made of these days" the guitarist is tall" and slightly balding at the front" with a wild shock of curls at the back" and a kickass dance as he pulls outrageous licks from his SG" well played indeed. This band sounds like some sort of fusion between David Bowie"s last effort" Reality" and his early eighties album" Scary Monsters" perhaps with some Soundgarden" or Faith No More" thrown in for good measure. They wear mostly black in other words. It"s an action packed performance though" plenty of movement and noise" changes of tempo" roars from the primordial era" a good old"fashioned rock band indeed" and a good old"fashioned rock show to go with their impressive sound.

Phew" tough going those last two" one was hard on the mind" the other hard on the soul" and all that remained were the headliners. Star Blegrade "" allowed to keep their name by virtue of the fact that the football club changed theirs into something incomprehensible to us Anglophiles" "s na Gaelg"ir" freisin" you can read it when they play Cork City on Wednesday" I haven"t the stones to try and spell it "" arrive on the stage amidst a flurry of guitars and keyboards that seem to have sprung from nowhere. The look on their faces tells you they mean business. In terms of style think Bono crossed with Marilyn Manson" or Massive Attack crossed with Rage Against the Machine" a lot of fuzz" a lot of noise" and melodious vocals poured over the top. The noise is huge" and consistent" a lot of work went into building the sound of this band" and it"s apparent when they play. They all seem to have complete control of their instruments and rarely looked flustered on the stage. After the high"octane antics of the Ultra Montanes though" they seem incredibly static. Energy from the band is a big part of a live show and it wasn"t there" and the songs simply didn"t have enough bite to make up for it.

Overall a good night out was had by the many people who came from far and wide to hear these musicians peddle their tuneful wares" Hoovers " Sledgehammers could be the next great conceptual art band" The Ultra Montanes would give any rock band a good go in the ring" and Star Belgrade" well" they may just end up as the new Coldplay.