October 8, 2005
Jamie from Riot Promotions had promised us a banging night tonight and as myself and Smat move upstairs, with pear cider in hand, it certainly seems busy. To start off tonights gig we are treated to some in-your-face, dirty punk from a female fronted 3 piece from Leicester. Firebrand, with the “fat one” on bass, the “skinny lesbian” on guitar and a young drummer to complete their lineup, use fast dirty guitar and bass riffs with a nice catchy ska influence at times and some inventive vocal harmonies and patterns to create a real trashy old skool punk vibe.
Letting the bass take as much responsibility as the guitar in providing the melodies and a base for the vocals to work around, they certainly write catchy and blunt songs. Using the two vocals well to bounce off each other and create big hooks, Firebrand have a very nice twist to a traditional thrash punk genre. The lyrics are also fun and using witty and comical lines the songs are easy to get into. The drumming is also excellent and even though the drummer looks young, they show that they have plenty of big fills and add variety to the sound.
At times Firebrand seem a bit dis-jointed with the drums and bass drifting apart, it still works well with this style though. A second guitarist might add stability but with just the one guitar, which swaps very nicely from clean to distortion and interchanges scale based riffs to chunky chords with ease, it has a nice mix of sound. They also had good presence and seemed relaxed and confident. I am not sure how long they have been going but Firebrand had a nice edge to an old style and showed a lot of good potential. Messy, dis-jointed, fun and silly punk, nothing ground-breaking but still a fun show and good opening to the evening.
Next up are one of Nottinghams better known trash-punk acts, New Generation Superstars, have been around a while and from tonights crowd turn-out seem to have a loyal and large following. Using simple, fast and chaotic riffs to base their songs round, they interlock all instruments really well, to give every member a chance to add diversity with short soloes, taking it in turns to provide the lead melodies. Even though it is mostly based around straight forward riffs, New Generation Superstars can mix up there songs well and are really tight and confident when on stage. The vocals are loud and in your face, using a barrage of non stop chants and catchy hooks to smash the lyrics home. The backing vocals add power to the choruses and the frontman certainly has a enigmatic presence. The guitars are really dirty and sound like they have been dragged through a sewer, before washing off in a mud bath. At first the songs seem to lack build up and many have similar structures, but with every song having such catchy and in your face hooks and masses of attitude by the end of the set, emotions are running high and their is a real buzz to their sound. New Generation Superstars are very professional, with a show that is cocky and builds on angry anarchist roots, they mix their traditional glam punk persona with a more modern catchy feel to add power and guts, it really hits you hard right where it hurts. Ouch.
Finally tonights headliners are a very experienced folk-punk act from Gloucestershire, Bleeding Hearts. Now I am a fairly big folk-punk fan but had never seen Bleeding Hearts before tonight and I have to say it was a excellent performance. The guitars kicked in with really fast and melodic riffs and are given a diverse and softer edge by the flowing fiddle and the interesting percussion and drumming. The guitarist also uses a range of effects and his acoustic to add great dynamics at times. The vocal is a mix of shouting, ranting political punk (and they certainly know what they’re talking about), softer folky tones, and with infectious hooks and meanful lyrics, Bleeding Hearts songs are really catchy. With the fiddle and druming adding to the folk edge, you could compare them to The Levellers but with a dirtier underbelly and consistantly fast and upbeat riffs their music is even more uplifting in a weird way (and that coming from a big Levellers fan!). The bass holds the songs together, bouncing around nicely and with good movement adds to the upbeat feel. The drummer is really diverse and uses his whole kit even playing some percussion in some songs and adding very good backing vocals to beef the songs up. In fact all their harmonies are bang-on and it is obvious that the Bleeding Hearts really know what they are doing, creating a feel good, upbeat atmosphere which just reminds me of hot summer nights and it gets everyone dancing. I would definatly go to see Bleeding Hearts again, it is driving, passionate music, which is full of emotion and purpose.
Review – Gaz Photos – Smat
Written By Gaz
Photos ~ Smat
