Sonic Youths Autumn Showcase @ NAC
Four young local acts impress.
This Saturday was without doubt the day that Sonic Youths took over the Norwich Arts Centre big time. Not only were three of their alumini acts (Lobster, Dog's Dinner and Cabrakid) hosting the Class of 2016 Farewell Party in the evening, but the next intake were ready and waiting to take over the Café Bar at lunchtime, with four very different acts lined up for the Autumn Showcase.
First up was CGI Sam, the 19 year old spoken word and hip-hop rapper from Norwich, also part of the five-piece Trynathink Collective. Rapping over some mellow and laid-back beats on his laptop, Sam has a style that delivers complex and punchy rhyming pieces, but without falling into the trap of adopting false patois or ghetto posturing. The result is a very personal and natural stream of lyricism. The inclusion in his set of Square Peg, an early poem about teenage unrequited love, shows how easily he has moved from spoken word to hip-hop.
The Revelation Brothers, Jake and Jack from Harleston, are not real brothers, although they possibly use the same opticians, and carry a passing resemblance to a young Phil and Don Everly. Jake is the taller, sings and plays banjo and guitar, whilst Jack shares vocals and covers all bases on guitar. Together they certainly are something of a revelation – confident, personable, well-presented, and with some damn good songs. They have a host of self-penned numbers, and mix their set with new material only recorded the previous day with more established tracks from their debut EP. Lovely vocal harmonies, and great to see the folk and bluegrass tradition alive and well amongst our Sonic Youths. After a summer residency at nearby North in Magdalen Street, the Revelation brothers are often found gigging around Norwich. Do go and check them out, but do not be shocked to hear the F-word dropped into a couple of their songs. Expletive laden banjo picking. That has to be another first for Sonic Youths!
Aphra is an incredibly talented singer songwriter from Norwich who you might remember from the show Wildlife at Norwich Playhouse during this year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival. Since then she has been busy gigging around Norwich, and gained a confidence and maturity that belies her 16 years. Draw comparisons, if you will, with our other young rising star Maya Law, although Aphra's stage confidence is possibly more assured, and her voice at times more expressive. She certainly was not phased one iota when, during one new song, she had a momentary vocal blank but calmly and casually flicked through her lyric notebook in order to get herself back on track. At times rootsy, but at times with the sensitivity of Laura Marling, Aphra is certainly a name to watch.
Ten Wxlves is the stage name of 14 year old Harley Riecansky, whose SoundCloud page already has an impressive array of tracks, including an unofficial remix of Florence and The Machine's Sweet Nothing. It is impressive stuff, and he arrives with enough gear to almost warrant his own road crew. The set appears to start well, and the sound is loud and very clear, but Father appears not to be happy and starts to get involved. We then wait patiently for five minutes or so whilst the Arts Centre sound engineer and several of adults all tinker with the equipment whilst Harley is left standing in the wings. Finally, it is announced that 'due to a number of technical glitches' Ten Wxlves would not be able to continue the set, and would be re-booked for the next Showcase in December. We await with interest to see if Harley's stage performance actually matches his online presence.
Which left me with just enough time to get home, dodging the showers, and get something to eat before returning for the evening event.
