Norwich Sound & Vision - Diet Cig
As the darker nights begin earlier and the colder evenings start to settle in, the much-loved Norwich Sound & Vision Festival returns for another year, although a bit smaller in size this time. Which isn’t really a bad thing, may I add. With its reduction in scale it has, instead, taken the time to refine the quality and cohesiveness of its line-up with Diet Cig & Goat Girl co-headlining the Thursday bill, The Big Moon following up on the Friday and indie-royalty Peace closing on the Saturday. Let’s be real, they’ve done pretty well here.
On Thursday, Norwich locals Sink Ya Teeth kicked off the music at the Norwich Arts Centre. Having heard their name floating around the Norwich grapevine at large for a while now, it was a pleasant surprise to finally hear them perform and see what they were all about. To start with they were a bit rigid, which didn’t exactly feel right set against their incredibly loud and synthy production, but after a while they seemed to work their magic amongst the audience and hips started swaying. If you closed your eyes you were immediately transported to that San Junipero episode from Black Mirror. (The only lovely Black Mirror episode). Sink Ya Teeth sounded synthy, progressive and made me nostalgic for a time period in music history that I wasn’t even alive for.
Up next were London’s Goat Girl that have been garnering some serious interest within the edgy (in a good way) indie circles. Right from the get-go, it’s clear that Goat Girl can write some truly incredible music and each member plays their part with complete comfort and relaxation. Despite their younger age, it looked like they’ve been doing it for a lifetime. To their credit, Goat Girl write the sort of music that’s a bit tricky to pin down: there’s something grungy about it, although at times some of the tracks have a swing and a rhythm to it that cherry picks your favourite aspects of a garage rock band. But all in all, there’s something dark and mysterious underlining their music and performance. They’re a band that succeed in playing songs that carry a killer momentum, deriving mostly from the drummer, but it sadly doesn’t make it past the first few rows of audience members. There’s something about the “cool band” aesthetic that holds Goat Girl back from truly captivating the audience as a whole – being in a band should be a dream come true, but it hardly looked like they enjoyed themselves? I don’t know. Maybe it’s all part of the scene. Maybe I don’t get it. Maybe I’m not cool enough.
And finally, despite only being a two-piece band from across the pond, Diet Cig launched themselves on stage and instantly dispersed any two-piece-anxieties people have about two-piece bands. How many times can you fit ‘two-piece’ in a sentence? But before flying through their set, lead singer Alex Luciano gave us a quick warning that their gig was going to be a safe place for everyone and that we should all respect our surroundings - a sentiment that I personally could not align with more. And then they were off. In a word, Diet Cig’s performance can only be described as fun, because what’s the point in overcomplicating it with fancy words? Where they actively do away with the faff of a bass player, and a keyboardist and fancy production, they fill that space with sheer energy that mimics the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. They were both in such a euphoric state of appreciation to be there, and as a result, so was everyone else. I couldn’t give you a track-by-track lowdown on what songs they played as I, like many others, was too busy doing my own thing and just remembering why I bloody love going to gigs. Honestly, Diet Cig are the kind of band that make your cheeks hurt because you’ve been maintaining an hour long smile. Need I say more?
