November 3, 2005
To kick off this Fly On The Wall Promo we are treated to some fast and furious punk from a young bunch of rockers hailing from Peteborough, Winning By Default surpass their youth by putting in a tight and catchy performance. Using interlocking guitar riffs, that have infectious melodies but a dirty, grinding underbelly they build and move their songs around well. The driving drums and fierce bass hold the reigns as the guitars fire the songs forward, with the use of some nice breakdowns Winning By Default have a really good sound and mix commercial pop punk melodies with a more traditional angry punk angst. The vocals are very clear and tuneful and help add to the catchy feel. This music bounces, tramples and hits you with quick bursts of energy, showing these young guns have a lot of potential and tonight they provide a very good opening act.
So from Peteborough’s finest punk prodigies to Derby’s stupidest ska/punk clowns, Mr Wolf have been reviewed on our website before and always put in a fun and bouncing performance that is full of energy and character. The bass and drums have a funky ska edge but with the use of dirty guitars and big shouting in-your-face vocal hooks, these guys have a real 70’s influence and with a relaxed and amusing stage presence they keep their more traditional feel. They seem so varied, mixing old skool ska and drinking punk with more modern fast numbers and overall have a really upbeat and catchy sound. This music will appeal to punk and ska fans of all ages and backgrounds and with such catchy melodies and hooklines you will find your self humming along and your feet tapping.
Next up are another band from further afield, this time it’s a taste of crazy ska from London’s Mumrah. The first thing that we noticed about this lot was how much they change, mixing ska-core, punk, 70’s funk rock and traditonal reggae ska into one big fun basket. The bass moves really well and between that and the drummer, who used varied and interesting beats and fills, the songs have weird yet strong structures. The guitars burst in and out and interchange between crazy riffs and catchy chords and with the horns adding even more diversity and random-ness this is impressive stuff. Using mass harmonies, in which ever member sings including the drummer, Mumrah create infectious and quite breath-taking music. This is truly original ska and with the consant movement and changes in style, tempo and dynamic its like nothing you’ll have heard before. Most bands that change their dynamic this often miss out in the melodic stakes but this is what makes Mumrah so remarkable, each section of each song is really catchy and moves so well. It is like each track is made up of several smaller songs that have bred into one all-conquering monster of funk ska. Experimental, original, diverse and catchy, this is simply awesome music and proves again how good the underground music scene is right now, these guys should be massive.
So we have seen bands from Peteborough, Derby and London, now to finish this great evening of fun, happy and dancable skanking ska madness, we have Nottingham’s own ska kings and one of our favourite live bands, Weeble. Since discovering the joys of Weeble a few years back Saggy Pants have witnessed them support many awesome bands, we’ve danced our Saggy Pants right off to many of their blistering sets and seen them go from strentgh to strentgh, they continue to pull out all stops and impress us again tonight. Using huge, catchy melodies and hooks with fierce and fun guitar riffs, walking, funky bass breakdowns, powerful and crushing drums and masses of horn and vocal action, Weeble once again put on a unstopable show, and had the whole audience going nuts. I haven’t met anyone yet who does enjoy a Weeble gig, they put so much energy into their set and with songs that are so fun and catchy you will find yourself singing along, dancing around and smiling from cheek to cheek. Their newer songs seem to have all the charms of their older material and with a slightly heavier ska-core influence it smashes the melodies into your brain, making sure you will be humming Weeble’s songs all day long. If you like punk/ska then you should really check Weeble out and if you don’t, then you probably should check Weeble out too, as they always put on a great show and with their upbeat and uplifting music they guarantee a good night out.
More Photos Review – Gaz Photos – Smat
Photos ~ Smat
