Tuesday, July 10, 2007
my third bit of.... DFA 1979 and Test-Icicles
Death From Above 1979, Metric, Test-Icicles
Scala, Thursday 26 May 2005
Test-Icicles are naughty boys, surly teenagers delighted by what they're getting away with. Which may be the point of being in a band. The drummer sits at his kit reading a magazine and drinking a beer - I didn't see him pick up a stick once, although he came forward a couple of times to chuck beer at the crowd. The other three swap guitars between songs, take turns to sing and yell and throw insults about. It’s all either very cute or very annoying.
It’s also either genius or retarded. They sound 80s post-punk (when will it stop?) but they’ve got chunks of Minor Threat and Beastie Boys and Faith No More; they're not just Bloc Party 2. I listened to my favourite of their songs again today: Circle, Square, Triangle. It's ace. Their first single on Domino is out in July.
Metric must only be on the bill because of some business or Canadian hometown connection with DFA 1979. They are awful. The lead singer is Dido-does-Britpop (I feel a bit sick just writing that) with one of those voices that people describe as sardonic, as if that's a good thing. It's not.
Death From Above 1979, on the other hand, are A Good Thing. A man with great hair on bass, a man with great hair on drums and singing, making loud, hard, fast, great songs. I love them. Sadly, at this gig they play all the really great songs (Romantic Rights, Blood on our Hands, Going Steady) in the first ten minutes, after which I just get pissed off with sweaty moshing men in shirts who should be at a Bad Manners gig, 20 years ago. I've seen DFA 1979 before and they were one of the best bands I've ever heard live, but tonight it's not right, like a date you should have had a day later, when you were both in a better mood. At the end, though, Test-Icicles join them on stage for a shambling, noisy, happy couple of minutes, and I go home smiling.
Scala, Thursday 26 May 2005
Test-Icicles are naughty boys, surly teenagers delighted by what they're getting away with. Which may be the point of being in a band. The drummer sits at his kit reading a magazine and drinking a beer - I didn't see him pick up a stick once, although he came forward a couple of times to chuck beer at the crowd. The other three swap guitars between songs, take turns to sing and yell and throw insults about. It’s all either very cute or very annoying.
It’s also either genius or retarded. They sound 80s post-punk (when will it stop?) but they’ve got chunks of Minor Threat and Beastie Boys and Faith No More; they're not just Bloc Party 2. I listened to my favourite of their songs again today: Circle, Square, Triangle. It's ace. Their first single on Domino is out in July.
Metric must only be on the bill because of some business or Canadian hometown connection with DFA 1979. They are awful. The lead singer is Dido-does-Britpop (I feel a bit sick just writing that) with one of those voices that people describe as sardonic, as if that's a good thing. It's not.
Death From Above 1979, on the other hand, are A Good Thing. A man with great hair on bass, a man with great hair on drums and singing, making loud, hard, fast, great songs. I love them. Sadly, at this gig they play all the really great songs (Romantic Rights, Blood on our Hands, Going Steady) in the first ten minutes, after which I just get pissed off with sweaty moshing men in shirts who should be at a Bad Manners gig, 20 years ago. I've seen DFA 1979 before and they were one of the best bands I've ever heard live, but tonight it's not right, like a date you should have had a day later, when you were both in a better mood. At the end, though, Test-Icicles join them on stage for a shambling, noisy, happy couple of minutes, and I go home smiling.
