Photo: Gavin Morrow

Smoke machines, disco lights, wah wah guitars, screaming feedback and three talented bands are the ingredients in a smorgasbord of entertainment at Lichfield Arts latest rock night. In an evening that is different to most other Lichfield Arts concerts, this evening is about bombast and spectacle as much as it was about musical delicacy. Third Angle Projection, Fire and More Fire and The Madeline Rust play sets that range from acoustic introspection to full on rock, from narrative stories about serial killers to more mundane everyday subjects.

Taking on the difficult task of opening tonight are Third Angle Projection, who deliver an acoustic set. Vocalist and guitarist Arron and bassist Dean play songs partially inspired by the sound of Nirvana, but melded their own ideas from myriad genres. including indie, rock, grunge, metal, into a melting pot of inventive sound. Highlights from their set include such songs as ‘Useless’ and ‘The Unreliant’, whilst set closer ‘Wake up Call’ touches on a lot of crowd. Although the group are usually an electric three-piece, this was a chance to hear unusual, restrained arrangements out of the context of their usual set.

Fire and More Fire however, are a completely different proposition. Virtuoso guitar playing, and a solid rhythm section, as well as inventive song craft are all brought to the fore. Al on guitar and vocals, Danny on guitar and vocals, bassist Glen and drummer Gareth take inspiration from bands such as The Pixies, Mudhoney, Fugazi and Queens of the Stone Age to deliver a short but powerful set of original material. The punkish ‘Drag’ is delivered with aplomb, whilst the soaring, melodic ‘Hear Through the Heart’ blended a fine tune with complicated musicianship and shifts in time signatures to fine effect.

Closing this action packed evening are the Nottingham based The Madeline Rust, here augmented by a number of extra players. The trio, led by bassist and vocalist Lucy Morrow, and guitarist Aly McNab, and drummer Martin Syret are accompanied by Geralt Ruggerio on guitar, cellist Clara Pascall, and backing vocalists Calum Mcnab and Alison Taylor play songs from their album Truth or Consequence.

Imagine Pink Floyd, front by Sinead O’connor playing the lost music of Ennio Morricone, and you will have some idea of the type of sound that The Madeline Rust uphold They start their set with ‘Hey’ which is a fine opener and allow the group to stretch out, whilst musical beauty features throughout the soft ballad ‘Desert Rain’; McNab’s lap steel guitar and the lilting musical refrain adding much to the sound.

‘Serial Killer song’ is a brooding masterpiece, anguished vocals and complicated musical ideas, whilst ‘Zoe’ is a softer ballad.

In all, this was a good concert, that showed the level of local musical talent. All of the bands play live locally, and are worth seeing on their own merit.

Launching their third album, Volcano, in a city which in its day had one or two of the things, The Last September took to the stage to the strains of 'Man With A Harmonica' from Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West. After a year in the making they're clearly pleased to have the work finished and available and to be able to present it to the assembled throng.

Live the album brings a rather uneven line to the set as 'Hold Me Down' is quite a downbeat song to move on to after the faster paced 'Half Shut Knife' and this issue, despite the quality of the material, is one which allows a restlessness to creep into the audience as time goes on. Greater use of keyboards, at the expense of the favoured accordion, and a dose of better between-song-banter would help in a more general sense.

The band's collaboration from the new album with poet Rachel McCrum, 'Climbing', provides the gig with a refreshingly different (indeed unexpected) few minutes as she intones her spoken words and the quintet just provide the backing track. Rounding off the main set with current single and album highlight 'This Train Remains' they receive a lengthy and heartfelt applause before people start to wonder if an encore is possible, the band not really having had anywhere out of sight to place themselves. Older tracks 'Pond' and 'Ventolin' (with it's U2 & Bowie references) are offered up and they can finally head off to the bar & to take the welcome plaudits from friends & family.  

Volcano is available from the group's bandcamp.

Having left Lanarkshire to experience the wider world Kung-Fu Jesus as returned, via South America and Taiwan, with an album's worth of material to chronicle the journey, both physical and conciousness-wise. 'Wolf' is the first single to be lifted from his debut full-length Celestial Gold, which is scheduled for a winter release on Gargleblast Records.

Comparisons with Withered Hand & The Pictish Trail are inevitable, given the style of music on offer and Kung-Fu Jesus's geographical origins. Electronica plays a large part in the backing tracks for both 'Wolf' and b-side 'Wander' and there is no weedy singer/songwriter delivery in the vocal department, which adds to the single's overall listenability.

'Wander', for my money is actually the better of the two songs. Whilst you couldn't call 'Wolf' maudlin in its delivery (the subject matter of missing an absent friend could well have been presented so) 'Wander' is just so much more exuberant, sweeping you away on its peaks and chivvying you along in its troughs. It's five minutes plus of glorious, bouncing positivity. 

'Wolf' will be released on August 25 and is available from the Kung-Fu Jesus bandcamp page here.

Noise Arrangement Order is the first limited edition vinyl release by BANJAXXED Recordings and features four bands described in the collection's press release as “Medway’s top rated noise slingers”. Frau Pouch’s ‘Exposo’ and then ‘Wife/Wife’ by KILL_RPNZL open the record, evoking weightier moments from the respective catalogues of Arctic Monkeys, Pixies and Queens Of The Stone Age. Both are complete with a great riff and great upbeat drumming, two things which help to make not just these songs but every composition in this short collection as good as they are. The latter song is reminiscent of the Wytches’ ‘Gravedweller’ single with its shrieked vocal during the chorus and appropriately heavy backing.

The weirdness doesn’t end there. It also permeates ‘Pigs In Blankets’ by Bear vs. Manero which in addition to giving us one of the craziest vocal performances of all time showcases some rather bizarre lyrics, and the performance includes the relentless thrashing of all instruments involved. It is basically a mentally unstable storm of a song, and is also one of the best songs about Christmas ever.

The EP wraps up with the rather gritty but quite Hendrixesque electric blues of Broken Banjo’s ‘African Child’, the chorus of which is based mainly on one hell of a riff. It also features the recurring, catchy refrain – “I hold my head up high / I wake up; I’m still alive”– amid truly depressing imagery. Some aforementioned elements of ‘African Child’ don’t really seem to go well together, but despite this apparent incongruousness it is still a great song.

Lo-fi noise comprised of nothing that can be traditionally described as ‘sweet’ and is essentially a ruckus that exhibits plenty of feedback and sonic dirt is not for everyone. Initially the production seemed a little too raw – with the vocal seemingly too quiet on the first songs –and the strangeness of the vocals, amongst other things, made Noise Arrangement Order puzzling. However, it was sometimes immediately compelling and its quality seems to grow with further listens. Perhaps it will be the Medway or Kent music scene what the Deep Six compilation was to the grunge movement that grew out of Seattle, Washington. We can dream.

Noise Arrangement Order is available now from the BANJAXXED Recordings bandcamp page here.