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Austra – London – 6 September 2011

Having changed careers mid-stream from a piano-based singer-songwriter with a touch of the Regina Spectors to a Nico-esque bleach-blonde gothic siren, in Austra Katie Stelmanis has found the form to match the function. With a handful of impressive singles released either side of their Kate Bush meets Nine Inch Nails debut album Feel It Break, Stelmanis may have found her creative niche but she still has much to prove. On record, Austra cloak themselves in a throbbing monochrome blanket, but on stage their live show is more telling, more vibrant and commanding, as Stelmanis, flanked by a pair of interpretive dancers/backing vocalists, add any absent colour.

By |2021-01-25T03:23:28+00:00September 8th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Austra – London – 6 September 2011
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Noah and the Whale – London – 16 May 2011

It’s a little known piece of Webcuts folklore that Noah And The Whale once played in my living room. Gladly, it was before my time, otherwise a compulsion to head downstairs and have words would‘ve been hard to resist. A sell-out show at the Camden Roundhouse is not to be sneered at, but if commercial success or the ability to fill a room is the barometer in which all great music is measured, we’re on (and have been for decades) very shaky ground, and when superlative-inducing American folk-rock act Okkervil River are playing across town, clearly in the wrong place.

By |2021-01-25T03:32:10+00:00June 18th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Noah and the Whale – London – 16 May 2011
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Twin Shadow – London – 11 May 2011

Having to write a live review on the fly, almost two weeks after it happened, from notes hastily scribbled, while packing to go to a festival will show us this is not the way to be. There's no time to go into great detail, to labour the point, to draw comparisons between George Lewis Jr's physical appearance (a little bit Prince, a little bit Morrissey), or the sound (a little bit Prince, a little bit Morrissey, albeit on a synth-sprung landscape). Twin Shadow, at least from this writer's perspective, has adequately filled the gap that LCD Soundsystem left by their absence, in making music that moves and is moving, that is confident without being arrogant, and is just too perfect for words.

By |2021-01-09T09:01:21+00:00May 24th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Twin Shadow – London – 11 May 2011
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Ramona – London – 17 April 2011

It's easy to love Ramona, even though everything about them is so flawless and en pointe, unheard for a scruffy bunch of Brighton by-way-of-New-York rockers. Picks in hand, they transform a handful of chords into polished punk perfection, fronted by the coquettish bleach-blonde tomboy Karen Anne, a second generation Edie and Debbie who knows how to hang from a mic stand like she was hanging from your shoulder. Absent from the stage this year so far, they cycle through their set in a brisk half hour, including encore, and you're crying out for a flubbed note, an unrehearsed run through a song they just wrote in the van, or general indifference to whether anybody is listening.

By |2021-02-22T06:23:04+00:00April 28th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Ramona – London – 17 April 2011
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Cold Cave – London – April 4 & 5 2011

In a long black leather jacket and hoodie and stacked heels, Cold Cave's Wes Eisold looks like any other kid you see in Camden on a Friday night, except that he's not and it isn't and before he even opens his mouth, you're thinking "wow, that leather jacket really is the shit" and it is. It's also a special day for 80's synth-obsessives Cold Cave, as Eisold curtly informs the assembled at Rough Trade Records - "Welcome to our album birthing day". Their second album, the strangely positive sounding Cherish The Light Years showing a marked change from the same Cold Cave that played London back in May 2010.

By |2021-01-25T04:00:51+00:00April 19th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Cold Cave – London – April 4 & 5 2011
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Deerhunter – London – 31 March 2011

With each successive show played in London growing in size from venue to venue, it’s a clear indication of the steady rise of this beloved Atlanta four-piece, and with Shepherd’s Bush Empire being sold out, it's their largest capacity UK headline show to date. For the ardent, precious fan, Deerhunter aren't your band anymore. The era of slipping into town for a small club tour is over, but from the staid, somewhat bemused crowd, Deerhunter's roaming psychedelic-shoegaze and mutant folk-pop are still an acquired taste, one that’s seemingly unlikely to assail the upper reaches of the charts like label-mates, The National.

By |2021-01-20T02:30:35+00:00April 8th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Deerhunter – London – 31 March 2011
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Exlovers – London – 28 February 2011

There really is something enthralling about watching a band not just perform music but energetically project themselves into it. It's akin to standing against a gale who's presence is to overpower you and anything in its way. That would in part, sum up the appeal of Exlovers -- they cut a forceful, harmony-fuelled rug. The other part is they're the most attractive bunch of tattooed scruffs that you'll ever encounter. Put all this in the context of their latest single "Blowing Kisses", a song that transcends simple indie guitar music and that gale hits like a perfumed fist that still makes you want to stand up and take more.

By |2021-01-25T04:03:16+00:00March 7th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Exlovers – London – 28 February 2011
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The Cult – London – 21 January 2011

When you add up the years, you realise Ian Astbury and Billy Dully have been making music as The Cult for a long-ass time. Sitting in the rafters of the Hammersmith Apollo ("Hammersmith Odeon", Astbury demurs, referring to the venue's previous appellation), the debt paid to the excesses of rock n’ roll have more-or-less treated both kindly. Astbury, the once flower-child/wolf-child looks a little rough round the edges, but when you style yourself on Jim Morrisson and then suddenly become him, what can you expect. Duffy on the other hand, is ageless, looking more like David Beckham‘s older brother than a well-tooled guitar god.

By |2018-07-09T11:15:02+01:00February 18th, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on The Cult – London – 21 January 2011
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Luke Haines – London – 19 January 2011

This was to be the debut and sole performance of Outsider Music, Luke Haines' most successful solo album to date. An album of some notoriety in that it was individually recorded 50 times and released last September for £75 a throw. An artistic experiment and a gamble of sorts, it was an undeniable success for Haines, the old adage about fools and their money standing true -- all 50 volumes of Outsider Music disappearing quicker than anticipated. With each volume a unique item on its own, buyers have been reticent on sharing and as of yet, no copies have surfaced. So Haines - 1, Rich Fans - 1, Poor Fans - go eat a shit sandwich.

By |2021-01-28T10:51:57+00:00February 2nd, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Luke Haines – London – 19 January 2011
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Austra – London – 18 January 2011

There’s been a noticeable shift slash longing backward glance in music trends towards all things 80’s. It seems that the product of that era now want to know everything about where they came from and the music that was made. For synth pop acts like Summer Camp and Twin Shadow, the 80’s are a nostalgia/inspirational goldmine, but with the rise of Zola Jesus, Salem, oOoOO, etc, it was inevitable that Goth music and its mutated electro/dark wave offspring would get discovered by the black clad suburban misfits of today. Enter, Austra from Toronto, Canada.

By |2021-01-30T09:48:18+00:00January 21st, 2011|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Austra – London – 18 January 2011
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The Wedding Present – London – 13 December 2010

These are confusing times we live in. The past and the present have merged into one. Bands come back from the dead, sounding better than ever (The Primitives), artists who are clearly dead keep on making dreadful albums from beyond the grave (do we need name names?), and bands will play their best album in full and it becomes ‘an event’ (The Wedding Present). There are few albums in the history of music that deserve to be played in full (though tell that to Echo & The Bunnymen...), there's always at least one track (or more) of filler, or one completely misjudged stinker, but nostalgia has a price and it pays handsomely, so hey, on with the show!

By |2021-01-11T00:38:44+00:00December 20th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on The Wedding Present – London – 13 December 2010
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Dean Wareham – London – 8 December 2010

Long before he cleared the air/dished the dirt (whichever way you look at it), on his band mates in his autobiography Black Postcards, it was widely known there would never be a proper Galaxie 500 reunion. In the intervening years since their disbandment in 1991, both Dean Wareham and the unit known as Damon and Naomi have gone their separate musical ways to moderate degrees of success. With Wareham’s post G500 outfit Luna winding up in 2005, he’d now put to pasture two bands presumably allowing him time to reflect on past glories with a renewed desire to not let that youth go to waste.

By |2021-01-06T01:40:43+00:00December 15th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Dean Wareham – London – 8 December 2010
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Twin Sister – London – 25 November 2010

Latching hold of our ears earlier in the year with their double EP release Colour Your Life/Vampires With Dreaming Kids, Long Island’s Twin Sister had secured a place on our date card long before their they announced their first UK tour. Sneaking across the pond in October, we’d caught the band supporting rising stars, The Morning Benders at the Music Box in Los Angeles (apologies boys, I owe you one live review) and were suitably impressed. Jaded beyond jaded as the years drag on and the revolving floorshow of new bands yawn in our faces with old ideas, it was refreshing to witness a band breathe colour and life into their music.

By |2021-01-11T00:20:46+00:00December 8th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Twin Sister – London – 25 November 2010
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Dum Dum Girls – London – 28 September 2010

California girls. Beach Boys praised them, Katy Perry revived them, but Los Angeles' Dum Dum Girls are the kind of girls that either Brian Wilson or Katy Perry had in mind. Palm trees, bikinis and suntans aren’t their domain, in fact, it would be surprising if daylight ever graced their chalk-white skin, looking as they do Josie and The Pussycats meets Tim Burton. Making a return visit to London in the newly opened (and un-divey) East London venue XOYO, Dum Dum Girls are Dee Dee. The all-girl band she's assembled acts as both an extension of her psyche, and a mirror to how she dresses.

By |2021-01-25T10:06:53+00:00October 12th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Dum Dum Girls – London – 28 September 2010
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The Darling Buds – London – 22 September 2010

You’d be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu here. Is it 1989? Did The Primitives and The Darling Buds really both play London within a week of each other? Having been absent from the live scene for most of the '90s and all of the past decade, for both bands to surface at the same time is unthinkable. Unthinkable, but pretty damn cool. It brings back memories of a time when the music magazines invented a scene called ‘Blonde’, where bands were lumped together purely based on the colour of the lead singers hair. Which by their way of thinking meant you were either a Blonde, a Goth or in Fairground Attraction.

By |2021-01-11T00:41:31+00:00September 24th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
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Warpaint – London – 26 August 2010

It’s shows like this which give birth to the very nature of rock and roll. The hip-swaying sounds of a band as they rock back and forth, eyes closed, mouths pressed against the microphone with their feet marking the beat. It’s an undeniably sexual thing. This isn't news. It’s why they tried to ban Elvis in the 50’s. He turned young girls on, and it wasn’t so much the man, but the music, the stage, the sweat, the motion -- the rock and roll of it all. Wedged together in this barely ventilated Old Street basement, Los Angeles' Warpaint are presiding over something that had this been the 50's, would've gotten them banned too.

By |2021-01-30T10:03:40+00:00September 7th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Warpaint – London – 26 August 2010
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The Walkmen – London – 25 August 2010

“You’re one of us, or you’re one of them“. Hamilton Leithauser, fist wrapped tight around the microphone as if he's trying to strangle it, is howling those words. The rest of The Walkmen, heads bowed (as they remain throughout most of the set) play complicit and provide the carnival-esque roar to ram Leithauser’s words home. It’s not so much a question or a suggestion but a statement. For better or for worse, for way back when the band were selling their own white label records at the Middle East in Boston in 2001, I’ve been one of "us".

By |2021-01-09T08:34:28+00:00August 27th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on The Walkmen – London – 25 August 2010
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The Besnard Lakes – London – 19 August 2010

Touring off the back of their third studio release The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, the Quebec-based The Besnard Lakes returned to London to treat us with some more of their epic Beach Boys meets Spiritualized jams. Given the massive sound present on ...The Roaring Night, there was some anticipation in how the band were going to pull this off as a four piece. With the newer tracks being a lot denser and harder to recreate live without either a 10 piece line up or a maze of effects and loop pedals, assistance came via laptop, which helped embellish the sound and keep true to their recorded material.

By |2021-01-30T10:06:28+00:00August 23rd, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on The Besnard Lakes – London – 19 August 2010
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Dean & Britta – London – 30 July 2010

Releasing their soundtrack to 13 of Andy Warhol's screen tests was an opportune moment for ex-Galaxie 500/Luna star Dean Wareham to fully express his love for Velvet Underground and the stars of Andy Warhol's Factory. The screen tests alone, wavering between the visually arresting and the arrestingly mundane, were elevated into a new realm with the musical accompaniment provided by Wareham and partner Britta Phillips. Bringing the 13 Most Beautiful show to London (having frustratingly been given its UK premiere in Dunfermline last year) was a long-anticipated occasion.

By |2021-01-06T01:38:37+00:00August 17th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Dean & Britta – London – 30 July 2010
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Mark Kozelek – London – 29 July 2010

“Give me a minute and I’ll blow your minds“. The crowd laughs, so does the man who just uttered those words. The mood, somewhat quiet, respectful, shiftless, is lightened, and Mark Kozelek begins another master-class in tinkling the nylon strings of his Spanish guitar like Liberace would the piano. “I’m old” he breaks the silence again, “I’m fat, I need water, I need lyrics to my songs”. From my pew to the right side of the stage I have to squint to see if it’s not Neil Young sitting there complaining about his arthritis. To Kozelek’s credit, he’s still as ageless as ever, and that gut you were grabbing at? I’m pretty sure you’ve been carrying that for a while now.

By |2021-01-09T08:37:29+00:00August 4th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Mark Kozelek – London – 29 July 2010
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Kaki King – London – 13 July 2010

When does standing in the front row give you a direct line to god? Just because your idol, or current object of interest, is able to look you in the eye while they’re singing doesn’t mean that this is your opportunity for some face-to-face "let's get to know each other" time. Really, it doesn’t. And it’s rare that a concert is marred by one asshole that doesn't get the hint and won’t shut up, but shit does happen, and it happened to Kaki King and to the respectful crowd who had to endure this one "fan" and his relentless pursuit in establishing a "connection".

By |2021-01-04T03:21:25+00:00July 23rd, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Kaki King – London – 13 July 2010
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The Big Pink – London – 13 May 2010

An hour in the company of The Big Pink is a sensory distorting experiment, and one that also questions your sexuality. It’s not a glam/gay thing, but there is a certain amount of homoeroticism about The Big Pink. The obvious sexual nature of the band name notwithstanding, and their record sleeves are all chicks and tits, but I think that’s to throw off the thinly veiled man-love shared between guitarist/vocalist Robbie Furze and bassist Milo Cordell.

By |2021-01-23T07:38:31+00:00June 18th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on The Big Pink – London – 13 May 2010
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Bad Lieutenant – London – 18 March 2010

As a teenage music fan, one of my prized possessions was a bootleg LP of Joy Division recorded on the same stage Bad Lieutenant are playing tonight, 30 years later. You think Bernard Sumner, guitarist in both bands, would mention the significance, or perhaps the memory has left him, like his own introduction to an Electronic song later in the set "This is called "Tighten Up", I've no fucking clue what it's about".

By |2021-01-20T00:48:27+00:00March 23rd, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment
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Jay Reatard – London – 13 November 2009

Musicians die. Sometimes quite unexpectedly, most before their time, but not often enough for your brain to idle between song, between string changes or tunings to wonder “will this be the last time?”. You don’t, because you’re too busy enjoying the moment. Having witnessed Jay Reatard play what would be his last ever show in London, he was anything but the vision of a man kicking out the last of his jams.

By |2021-01-11T00:55:35+00:00February 15th, 2010|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Jay Reatard – London – 13 November 2009
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Wild Beasts – London – 8 October 2009

Having given us one of the most lurid and arresting albums all year in Two Dancers, the Leeds-based Wild Beasts are let loose on London and give us such a performance that we (as they say) still got the taste dancin' on our tongues.

By |2021-01-25T23:49:30+00:00October 27th, 2009|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Wild Beasts – London – 8 October 2009
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The Drones – London – 8 June 2009

Watching Gareth Liddiard sing is like witnessing a drunk arguing with his own reflection. His posture is one of vexed irritation, his face is strained, the tendons on his neck bulge, his entire frame in spasm.

By |2021-01-25T10:08:56+00:00June 8th, 2009|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on The Drones – London – 8 June 2009
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Deerhunter – London – 18 May 2009

Deerhunter Scala, London 18th May 2009 Palpable expectation, a sold out crowd, a critically received album, a loud northerner standing beside me naively exclaiming “I hope they play something off Turn It Up, Faggot" and an unlikely intro tape of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”. This is how it begins. Four boys from Atlanta, Georgia

By |2021-01-20T02:43:51+00:00May 18th, 2009|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Deerhunter – London – 18 May 2009
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The Sisters of Mercy – London – 9 April 2009

The Sisters of Mercy The Forum, London 9th April 2009 For a band who have refused to release records since 1994 and now only operate as a touring act, The Sisters of Mercy must have the most dedicated fanbase on the planet. Goths, like Heavy Metal fans, mate for life with their chosen bands and

By |2021-02-01T00:33:49+00:00April 10th, 2009|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on The Sisters of Mercy – London – 9 April 2009
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HTRK – London – 9 March 2009

HTRK Lexington, London 9th March 2009 I first witnessed Melbourne/Berlin noise-makers HTRK in action at a time where any favourable impression would not come forthwith. This was in a dingy low ceilinged East London venue that should've had 'CONDEMNED BUILDING' written all over it. It was as if someone had kicked open the doors, installed

By |2021-01-25T03:56:05+00:00March 20th, 2009|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on HTRK – London – 9 March 2009
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The Walkmen – London – 20 February 2009

The Walkmen Scala, London 20th February 2009 While they are most certainly welcomed, perhaps even loved, as a band, The Walkmen are quickly becoming as anachronistic as their name. Coming onstage to an enthusiastic response, The Walkmen began the set as if they were trying on a new suit. They didn’t tear into it with

By |2021-01-09T08:28:41+00:00February 22nd, 2009|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on The Walkmen – London – 20 February 2009
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Beach House – London – 2 December 2008

Beach House Cargo, London 2nd December 2008 Roughly a year since their last headline show at the Water Rat in Kings Cross, Baltimore’s Beach House have doubled their output and returned to London on the tail end of a European tour, promoting Devotion, their second album released earlier in the year. Having played support on recent tours by Cat

By |2021-01-31T01:27:04+00:00December 3rd, 2008|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Beach House – London – 2 December 2008
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Shearwater – London – 22 November 2008

"I don't know. I feel a bit naughty playing here", confides Jonathan Meiburg, singer with the Austin, Texas outfit Shearwater, sitting in front of a grand piano in St. Giles in the Fields, an 17th century church in London's West End. As a packed audience crammed pews to watch in rapt appreciation, Shearwater settled in

By |2021-02-01T00:31:06+00:00November 23rd, 2008|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Shearwater – London – 22 November 2008
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The Breeders – London – 3 September 2008

The Breeders Shepherd's Bush Empire London 3rd September 2008 For a long time The Breeders seemed to go the way of the Pixies. As both Deal sisters battled their demons, Kim with liquor and Kelley with drugs, attempts at reviving their careers in the late '90s proved disappointing. Returning with Mountain Battles, their second album

By |2021-01-20T03:38:41+00:00September 20th, 2008|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on The Breeders – London – 3 September 2008
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Ipso Facto – London – 31 July 2008

Ipso Facto Pure Groove Records, London 31st July, 2008 Having caught our attention last year with their goth and garage graces, Webcuts ventured down to Pure Groove records in East London to catch Ipso Facto launch their latest single "Ears and Eyes", the follow-up to last year's highly impressive debut "Harmonise". Unfortunately and incorrectly aligned

By |2021-01-20T01:15:09+00:00August 1st, 2008|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Ipso Facto – London – 31 July 2008
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Hoodoo Gurus – London – 4 July 2008

Hoodoo Gurus The Forum, London 4th July, 2008 Photo by Craig Smith. "I can still recall the time" began Dave Faulkner, as he stood in front of 1500 Australians (and some locals) at London's Forum last Friday night. This time those words held a little more poignancy, playing in the same venue Hoodoo Gurus

By |2021-01-31T01:01:57+00:00July 11th, 2008|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Hoodoo Gurus – London – 4 July 2008
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Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter – London – 13 June 2008

Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter Luminaire, London 13th June 2008 What do you call a Hefner revival without two of it's original members? Halfner. Hayman has recognised that it would be something of an indignity to bill himself and Jack as "Hefner" and have settled on this short tour by using both their names. Having

By |2021-01-22T01:10:17+00:00July 4th, 2008|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter – London – 13 June 2008
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Bob Mould – London – 25 May 2008

Bob Mould Koko, London 25th May 2008 Bob Mould turns to the crowd and informs them that they last time he played this venue, then named Camden Palace, it was 1985 and the band was Hüsker Dü. There are cheers and screams, hoots and hollers. Having already sprinkled his 90 minute set with choice tunes

By |2021-02-01T00:08:55+00:00June 16th, 2008|Categories: Live Reviews|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Bob Mould – London – 25 May 2008
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