Music > Live Reviews
Bad Apples/Birds of Hell
14/02/18
Bad Apples at B2 followed by Birds of Hell, Gladboy, Creepy Neighbour, Happy Coloured Marbles and Ellie Bleach, at NAC
Ah, gig clashes, don’t you just love ’em? Decisions, decisions. Do I go to the B2 for Rolodex of Gods, The Loved and Lost, Monster City and Bad Apples in aid of Papyrus? How about the Odd Box night at NAC with Birds of Hell, Gladboy, Creepy Neighbour, Happy Coloured Marbles and Ellie Bleach? In the end, I just go to both.
With apologies to the other acts on the bill, I only get to see The Bad Apples at the B2. Their brand of rowdy, ass-kicking garage rock 'n' roll is well worth the three quid donation to Papyrus. Over the two or three years since I first saw them, Matt and Tom have developed into a thoroughly entertaining act. Highlights are the MC5’s Kick Out The Jams – how can a duo make this sound better than the original – and closer The Death of Rock ‘n’ Roll, complete with Matt writhing on his back on the dancefloor. I guess there are similarities to the likes of The White Stripes and Black Keys but The Bad Apples have developed a sound and identity of their own.
A quick dash to NAC, just in time for most of Ellie Bleach’s set. Ellie and her band do not do it for me, at least at first. By the time the set finishes, however, I am won over. To me, this sounds like a guitar-free Courtney Barnett on downers (and I mean that as a compliment). It is not immediate but it is intriguing and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for Ellie in the future.
I recently reviewed Happy Coloured Marbles' set at Epic just a couple of weeks ago (http://www.outlineonline.co.uk/content/new-scientists/live-reviews-/120512/2486) and what I said then still stands. This is a band that just gets better every time I seem them. This is grooving, funked-up post-punk, although tonight has hints of the 80s pop of early Tears For Fears and So-era Peter Gabriel that I hadn’t picked up on before.
Creepy Neighbour’s sound also hints at the big music of the 80s, with Simple Minds, early Talk Talk and, again, Tears For Fears coming to mind. What lifts the band is some tasty post-rock guitar in the vein of Sigur Ros or latter day Mogwai. Max Taylor (I think) is an engaging frontman, with an original voice that suggests Wild Beasts. Being absolutely honest, this isn’t really my thing but I enjoyed what I saw and heard and will happily catch them again.
Now for the only disappointment of the night. I didn’t manage to get far enough in to the bar to give Gladboy a proper listen. Blame my crap, abused and failed hearing but I just couldn’t hear them properly. That isn’t a criticism of the band, venue, promoters or the punters, it is just the curse of being by the door when an acoustic act is playing. What I did manage to hear struck me as good fun skiffle-tinged folk. Odd Box will be putting Gladboy on at the Owl soon and I will make an effort to get to that one to get a proper listen.
I have long admired what Pete Murdoch is doing as Birds of Hell but I haven’t necessarily liked it. Tonight, backed up by a three piece band, the stars align and Birds of Hell makes sense to me. Tonight, the likes of Two Brothers and Supernaked are just brilliant. Pete is an extremely talented musician who is not afraid to venture into noise territory. In a recent Outline interview, he named his biggest influences as “Sonic Youth, John Coltrane and er, Dire Straits”. I can’t see Dire Straits but can see the Trane and Sonic Youth (and Thurston Moore’s solo work) influences. I’d also add a bit of Ian Dury and even John Lydon to the mannerisms and presentation, if not the singing voice. Typically, the night that I get BoH I have to leave early and only get to see twenty five minutes of the set, which is my loss.
All in all, a pretty special night and shout outs to Odd Box and Alien Nation for getting two cracking line-ups together.