Sunday, February 1, 2009

A Jantastic Month- See what I did there....

So the first month of 100 gigs is complete. Claps for everyone involved, but not too many slaps on the back. There's a major crisis unfolding, which could be bigger than HIV/Aids. (Ouch.... ouch)

I've been to 8 gigs... a few short of what I had hoped at this early stage, but not too bad. But after a few calculations, I've found that at this rate I'll only go to 94 over the year. Holy Shit in a Can! My esteemed colleague Pat is right on track however, with 10 gigs completed. Meaning at his rate he'll be seeing 117 over the year. Well done Pat, I gotta lift my game.

However, all is not lost avid blog readers. A glance at my calendar shows 5 gigs in the next 8 days. That should bring me to an expected result of...... 121 gigs. So woo! No need to panic yet.

But without further ado, here's my roundup of the month. All comments are my own feelings, if you're more of a Pat person, which I'm sure a lot of you lovely readers are, stay tuned for his summary of Jantastic January (Yeah I did, uh huh).

TOP 5 BANDS IN NO ORDER
Taking into account talent, stage presence and how surprised I was at their awesomeness.

Snob Scrilla
While it was a smallish crowd on a smallish stage in one of the earlier slots at Solar festival, after only two songs Snob and his band had every single person in the audience in his grasp. We were singing, jumping, dancing and having a general great time. Snob is a great showman, but on top of that, the tunes are incredibly catchy. Is it hip hop, is it electro.... whatever it is, its some of the best fun you can have with your pants on.

Duck Duck Chop
While a bunch of popular two piece bands tend to go down the dirty blues path (Mess Hall, White Stripes, Black Keys) , these guys went for some serious rawk. These guitars were stupid, the sound was huge, and the drums didn't stop for a second. This is what music shoulda been playing in the Boiler Room scenes of the Freddy Krueger Movies.

Yolke
There's nothing like a good psych rock band.... which is a pain because most of them are utter bollocks. A bunch of teenagers with shitty attitudes thinking their delays pedals are gods gift to awesome. Thankfuckfully, Yolke were not. They have senses of humour. They have succinct, catchy tunes that don't all sound the same. And they had everyone who saw them at the Summer Noise fest partying like it was 1976.

Franz Ferdinand
I had my doubts after I saw these guys, as you'll be able to read in my earlier review. But after a few days I could not stop thinking of their performance, and that has to count for something yeah? They were incredibly tight, Alex Kapranos is the frontman that every band wants, and their songs are really really good. Really good. Cynics will tell you otherwise, but songs like 40 ft, Outsiders and even new single Ulysses are better than free toast on Wednesdays.
The Presets
How many times have I seen thee? Let me count the times... I have seen the Presets I think more than almost any other band, so I knew what I was expecting. Swimming in a shirtless sea of Summer Festival scum, I expected to be punched in the head to every beat of their singles.
Presets have ARIA's now, they'll be shit.... Presets won J awards, they'll be shit.... They are played on Nova, they'll be shit.... They are on a car ad, shit... I was convinced this would prove to be true. But I was dead wrong. Knocking the big singles over early led the audience to become somewhat bored, but it was during the long proper electronica tracks that I was transfixed. Anywhere... Aeons... shitty album tracks to some, but their renditions at Solar festival reminded me why I first loved the Presets, and assured me that while they have a long fame filled career ahead of them, they're not going to forget what got them to where they are... making music for proper munters.

Venue of the Month

Noise Bar, Brunswick
Two band rooms, big beer garden, friendly people and cheapish booze. I couldn't ask for more.

THE BRUNO KIRBY AWARD FOR MOST BEST BAND THAT MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST BUT I SEE GREAT THINGS FOR THEM (And even though they're kind of a comedic actor they were in the Godfather 2)...

Fearless Vampire Killers
I can't recommend this band enough. Based on their ability to totally rock the balls off any gig, their not totally original retro sound that people think is grand, and the fact that their buddies all seem to be getting a bit huge (Little Red, The Harpoons), I have no doubt in my mind that they will be big. Check them out before you have to pay real prices to see them.

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