“Ready, Aim, Fire!” is all the introduction we are given to The Animal Mothers, it’s all they need.
By the time they launch into their second song, the blistering ‘Hey, Mr Policeman!’, they have found their stride and while the audience may be small they are certainly enthralled.
The band present all the influence of the psychedelic wave that ushered in the mid 60s, but filter it through far more attitude.
Make no mistake however, this isn’t only the influence the band draw from, they have a foot firmly planted in the first wave of rock’n’roll, visionaries like Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps and just a touch of Dick Dale’s instrumental chaos thrown in.
A highlight of the set is the blistering ‘I’ve Lost My Mind’, which builds to a chorus that sounds like a missing link between The Melvins and The Shangri La’s.
The set features one cover and it’s an unusual choice, ‘Hey Gyp’ originally by Donovan, and the duo raises the melancholic piece to new fuzz drenched heights.
Finishing off the set with ‘You Drive Me Crazy’ the band leave stage with a bang, and no doubt a bruise as singer Wallace Pate head-butts his guitar and throws it to the ground.
Electric Gardens provide a massively different experience when compared; they at points sound like a cross between Can and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
They have the hypnotic groove to rival any of the first wave of Krautrock bands, yet there’s more to them as they interject these walls of sound with Gang of Four style angular guitar riffs.
Their set culminates in a hectic jam that could rival Queens of The Stone Age at their most lucid; however this feels far more natural.
Special mention goes to the rhythm section, drummer Keith Harcus and bassist Marc Wilson for continually laying a solid foundation under this electric set.
The New Fabian Society are heading the bill, celebrating their seventh release and their second release as a three piece.
The addition of third member, Conor Dixon on bass, doesn’t come across on recordings as startlingly as it does in a live setting.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the band, back then they were a two-piece and they sound completely different now.
Their penchant for walls of sound has been transformed by the addition of the new member.
They sound like twice the band they used to be; most of the material featured throughout the set has been taken from the past three releases, with highlights including the bombastic ‘Cyclothymia’, frantic ‘In Love With A Killer’ and haunting new single ‘Melt Inside’.
The band straddle the admittedly thin line between My Bloody Valentine and Black Sabbath live, cascading walls of sound mixed in with churning riffs and choruses.
Seeing the band in this new, exciting period is truly brilliant.
You get the distinct feeling that you are seeing something unique, something which can’t be contained.
There are a few bands currently doing the quasi-shoegaze thing, but The New Fabian Society mix it with a post punk influence, which really helps to round out their sound giving them a much more unique take than that of their contemporaries.
Words: Phil Allen
Rave Child 