I've been busy these past few nights starting last Friday when I managed to get a ticket for the Arctic Monkeys gig at the Astoria. I haven't actually seen the band since spring 2005 when I was lucky enough to watch them play at a small venue in Manchester called Jabez Clegg just as they were about to become the biggest band in the country. Since then they have moved on so much and the new songs were spot on and they have developed a heavier sound that's reminiscent of early QOTSA and DFA1979 which is great in my book. After this show I headed over to Koko to watch US punk band Stalkers that are the New York equivalent of Towers of London so enough said. Then Ra Ra Riot followed them up (as I mentioned in my last post) and from then on I don't remember anything that happened until I woke up on Sunday afternoon.
I wasn't back in the game until last night and after meeting friends in Soho I headed to the Metro for a glimpse a a band called Jersey from Leicster, they were a bit dull and despite the singer having a good voice he didn't have the songs to compliment it. From then I went to check out a band called The Draytones - signed to 1965 Records - for the first time and really enjoyed their set. If you like merseybeat or are a fan of 60s garage bands like Standelles or Count Five you must check them out.
I saw a number of bands last week with the most impressive of the unsigned type being an act called Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong that I saw at Boogaloo for the second time in a fortnight. A bit of a buzz is starting to build up around this band because since I last saw them they have been in the NME radar pages and their demo was chosen by Zane Lowe to be his hottest record in the world last week. They impressed me again and after living with the demo for some time the songs have grown on me to the point that I'm singing them in my head all the time. I'm looking forwad to seeing them again in a few weeks now.
I have also been checking out a band from New York called Ra Ra Riot recently. They spent the back end of last week playing their first run of UK shows. I have known about them for a while as they were tipped after CMJ and SXSW by a number of people in the music business. I first saw them at the Proud Gallery in Camden last Thursday and despite their best effort the dodgy sound system all but ruined their show. However, I was lucky enough to see them the following night at Koko (a much larger venue with top sound) and this gig was far superior. Playing a handful of songs the band were definitely on form with a track called 'A Manner to Act,' standing out as my favourite. I would recommend this band to anyone who likes their US alt rock / indie and they can be found on myspace etc.
I had quite a busy time last week with gigs and all. I was out and about most nights and spent the entire week in London for a change. The week started on a bit of a low as I saw a couple of bands that I'd heard being talked up in industry circles that didn't live up to their supposed billing. Two of these bands played the Club Fandango night at the Dublin castle in Camden with the first band in question The Severes putting on a fairly pedestrian set. I'd actually seen this band before and had been quite excited by them but second time around they didn't make much of an impression on me as their sound was very Jam lite and a bit dated because the Libertines et al were doing this years ago. Following on were a Scottish band called Midnight Machine that had a contemporary electronic sound. Drawing influences from the Juan Maclean and The Knife they played out a half hour set of competent yet uninspiring songs. As it's very early days for this band it's a bit harsh to judge them at this point but I'd say there is room for improvement with this lot.
As the week moved on I checked out a band called the Priory at Notting Hill Arts Club. Like so many unsigned bands today they seemed content to knock out a few indie/punk numbers without really challening the audience. They did have a good attitude about them though and the front man had a good presence on stage so I will be checking them out again to see if they have written the tunes to match the bravado. Towards the end of the week I saw a band called Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong at Boogaloo in Highgate and they impressed me. They are not the most original sounding band but they had a good collection of songs that kept the audience intrested for the duration of the set. I'm sure I will be hearing more from this band as the year moves on.
