Music > Live Reviews

Kagoule @ NAC

25/11/15

This cold Mapped Out/Pony Up November night at the Arts Centre promises three bands for a fiver, and there’s a sizeable crowd here for a school night. I spot at least seven fellow Outline reviewers and know I must be in the right place at the right gig tonight.

First up, local lads Dog’s Dinner, who have only been together a matter of months. Josh is a confident engaging frontman, climbing on and off the stage, looking like he’s been to a few gigs in his time and already learnt the importance of stage presence. His vocals are rather Isaac-from-Slaves which is of course no bad thing. Their songs lack coherent tunes at present and it’s a shame that the guitarist loses a string on the first track, throwing them out a little. Their DIY, discordant, almost punk style wins the audience over, especially due to their youth (mostly 17). The strongest song of the set is Ill,  and there’s also one proper punk track which is super fast and super short and really works. It might be good to get the guitarist or bass player on chorus vocals too to attain a bigger sound, and for the rest of the band to join in with Josh’s “don’t give a fuck” attitude. Overall a ballsy and really promising set from some passionate kids.

Duo Bald Wife, also from Norwich, make big, dirty sounding garage rock. Jack, on vocals, screeches and shouts into the mic and plays his guitar with a fury, odd electronic squeals emitting from his fingers on occasion which is most intriguing. We get a full on pounding from the drums. The darkly lit stage suits their sound to a T, along with great juddering multicoloured scratchy visuals. The music’s pretty full on..not quite at BK and Dad volume levels, but nearly. Songwise it’s deconstructed and raw, with quite a bit of sparse noodling about in between the massive rock choruses. They end their set with She, a love song with a repetitive guitar part and tippy tappy sinister drums that all breaks down into a wild and uncontrolled chorus where it’s all set free.

Kagoule have been much touted by critics of late, and their album Urth has been a success. This trio make indie music that’s clear, tight and sounds all of a piece with interesting lyrics. There’s definitely a 90’s flavour to their music; in particular I’m reminded of Seafood. Vocally, Cai sounds almost exactly like Brian Molko, and it’s clear he’s a very good guitarist. There are some lovely harmonies between him and the lively bass player Lucy, who stalks the stage looking by turn livid and joyful. Tonight they’re punchy and meaty even during the slower numbers; a particular pleasure was Lucy’s solo Made Of Concrete. The audience are enjoying it but not exactly throwing themselves into it; this is a serious band making serious music, despite the sometimes playful nature of their songs, and the audience are taking their set seriously. Tracks like Glue have us nodding along enthusiastically. They’re clearly just enjoying playing their music, and that’s a real joy to behold; less performing, more playing. There’s a round of light but impressed applause at the end of their 45 minute set, and they return to treat us to one more song before we head out. Expect more from these indie kids in 2016.