Live Music – Effort, Tall Ships, Three Trapped Tigers – Buffalo Bar, 19/3/11

Shiny new record label, Pink Mist, which combines indie labels Big Scary Monsters, Blood and Biscuits and Holy Roar Records is responsible for this latest exciting UK tour.

First on in Cardiff’s Buffalo Bar is Effort, a newly hatched arrangement consisting of BBC Wales’ DJ Jen Long and James Frost of The Automatic. Informing the crowd it was only their fifth gig ever, I was pleasantly surprised that, while still fairly raw, their catchy indie rock brand was a pleasure to listen to.

From Jen’s point of view, it’s a brave move for anyone to step out from being the critic to the critiqued, but Effort seems to have the potential to do so very successfully.

Tall Ships. Photo courtesy of Jay Springett

Next on were Falmouth trio, Tall Ships (who have appeared on this blog many a time.) Rick, Matt and Jamie lean towards the art-rock side of things, with an emphasis on instrumentals and subverting the usual song formula.

As well as playing crowd favourites like Plate Tectonics and Books, they also mixed it up a bit by playing Ode to Ancestors off of the last EP, There is Nothing But Chemistry Here. Or, they tried at least. A succession of technical difficulties meant that some of the songs couldn’t be finished.

The guys dealt with it  as professionally and quickly as possible, but did still leave the audience waiting around for a while. There wasn’t any bad feeling, I think everyone just felt sorry for them as they were so good when the instruments were working! A finale of their newest single, Hit the Floor, which cranks it up a notch on the energy scale, definitely finished the shaky set with a high.

Three Trapped Tigers. Photo courtesy of Vince Kmeron

Finally, Three Trapped Tigers took to the stage. Promoting their new record Route One or Die, released on Blood and Biscuits Records, the guys gave a consuming performance that veered between sounds of dance, dubstep, post rock and a little bit of hardcore.

Such a mixture sounds like it shouldn’t work, especially not within the same record, but it combines together to make something new and unpredictable. It’s refreshing to see a band who are trying to consistently come up with something different, rather than just something that will sell. Each track takes you on a journey of cleverly executed peaks and troughs in tension, through flavours of different genres, and all with an unfathomable ability to get inside your head to the point where you’re no longer really aware of what is going on around you.

An innovative and compulsive performance to finish on, and a tour well worth seeing if you’re after something a bit different.

Live Music: Pink Mist launch party, 16/4/11

Notting Hill, on a weekend during the Easter holidays, and on Record Store Day, when you’re trying to pinpoint an unassuming door that leads to Notting Hill Arts Club is a logistical nightmare. But well worth it, once you’ve descended the stairs and got yourself a well deserved beer.

Some Record Store Day bargains. Courtesy of Mike Fabio

The event was a celebration of many things; the triumph of ‘keeping it old school’ for Record Store Day, which saw droves of music fans queueing at record stores to take advantage of special offers and ensure that the humble record store stays alive in its fight against the MP3. It was a celebration of the newly formed Pink Mist record label; an amalgamation of existing labels Big Scary Monsters, Holy Roar and Blood and Biscuits. And it was a celebration of the exciting collection of bands they have signed, namely Teej, Rosa Valle, Hymns and Tall Ships. Finally, it was a celebration for my purse, because it was all FREE!

The dimly lit Notting Hill Arts Club, a delightful underground hole, made it easy to forget that it was still daylight outside, as everything kicked off early in the afternoon. With short, snappy sets there was also no fear of missing a song when necessity called for toilet runs.

Teej made for an energetic opener, with a mix of synthy electronica that has a hint of post rock that really lets you get lost in it. Finishing on a huge applause from an unusually enthusiastic audience so early into the gig, the guys looked a little embarrassed at the gusto. They shouldn’t, when you’re lucky enough to get it, accolade is to be lapped up.

Rosa Valle followed with their mix of progressive rock with a hardcore edge. They describe themselves as a ‘four piece math-mosh band’, which sums it up pretty well. They owned the stage and their loud confidence made it impossible to look away.

Hymns, fronted by Jason Willcock, whose vocals you might recognise from past project Blakfish, the two-piece maintain a dark, serious edge, and are fiercely passionate in their performance. So fierce that, at times, it made you wonder if they would make it to the end of the set or they were all screamed and sweated out.

Matt and Jamie of Tall Ships. Courtesy of Kasper Vogelzang

And finally, Tall Ships. I’ve already banged on about how awesome these guys are, both their performance at Swn Festival last October, and the release of their EP There is Nothing But Chemistry Here. They’re still awesome, and tried a few new things during this performance, with a bit of climbing and backing into the crowd, as well as showcasing a new single that had only been recorded the week before. It was full of energy and suggests promising things for their new releases.

Great bands, great music, great day. Long live Pink Mist.