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LIVE REVIEW
THE OH SEES AT THE LUMINAIRE
The Oh Sees
The Luminare, Kilburn
London
05/06/10

“There’s a shitload of people here,” drawls Thee Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer, addressing said people who are crammed, nose-to-armpit, right up to the edge of the stage. “It’s HOT!” That, Mr Dwyer, is the understatement of the decade. It’s the kind of hot where you can feel the rivulets of sweat streaming down your skin and, under the circumstances, hope to Buddha that the sweat in question is your own. The band launch head-on into a set of fuzz-infused garage, laced with psychedelic guitar riffage, and bristling with clear, focused energy – and they are relentless about it. The gig is a marathon of sweltering, squelching punk tracks, many from recent album ‘Help’, complete with impromptu drawn-out, bluesy endings that drummer Mike Shoun bravely bashes his way through, even as the other Oh Sees are tacking on a few more reverb-heavy phrases, just to see if he can make it. “You guys getting tired?” asks the drenched Dwyer, before throttling his guitar through thirteen-minute track ‘Warm Slime’, holding his mic up to the amp and grooving off the delirious shrieks of feedback. Between the heat and the unrestrained intensity on stage, tonight feels like the end of the world – and what a way to go.

By Polly Rappaport

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Originally published in issue 18 (vol 3) of Loud And Quiet. June 2010


HUDSON MOHAWKE AT XOYO
XOYO
Old Street, London
19/10/11

The best shows are most often those where artist and audience fall into a frenzied feedback loop of mutual appreciation.

AZARI & ILL AT WHITE HEAT, SOHO
White Heat
Soho, London
01/11/11

Some tech-savvy good Samaritan recently ripped and uploaded a BBC radio documentary about house music grandaddy Larry Levan.

GOTYE AT KCLSU
KCLSU
London
01/11/11

King’s College seems an odd venue for Australian singer-songwriter Gotye.

FLAMINGODS AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
The Shacklewell Arms
Dalston, London
19/10/11

Save for an old electronic keyboard and a delay pedal that makes singer Kamal’s vocals ping-pong out of the room, Flamingods don’t do instruments with wires.

PURE X AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
The Shacklewell Arms
Dalston, London
1/11/11

Drugs. They’re rife within popular music. Especially within the type that Texan trio Pure X make, courtesy of a Spiritualized habit they just can’t (or won’t) kick.

2:54 AT CORSICA STUDIOS, ELEPHANT AND CASTLE
Corsica Studios
Elephant & Castle, London
09/11/11

Sisters Hannah and Colette Thurlow famously named their bristly, glowering rock band after a favourite moment on a Melvins song, 2 minutes and 54 seconds in, to be precise.

DOOM & GHOSTFACE AT THE ROUNDHOUSE
The Roundhouse, Camden
London
05/11/11

The man formerly known as MF Doom returns to the Roundhouse for a sold-out show, barely a year after his debut European performance in the same venue.

CAGED ANIMALS AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
The Shacklewell Arms
Dalston, London
28/09/11

In the studio, Caged Animals (Soft Black’s Vincent Cacchione’s new baby) deal in a faintly cloying, suburban youth-channelling indie with a twist.

MILK MAID AT THE GREEN DOOR, BRIGHTON
The Green Door
Brighton
20/09/11

Despite the days of Union Jack plastered guitars and weather-worn parkas being a prerequisite of any northern based guitar band being long gone.

METRONOMY AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington
London
03/10/11

“It’s hard to believe that in this very room they used to have gladiators fighting to the death,” exclaims Metronomy main-man Joe Mount.