A friend of ours recently confessed his love for this website with the minor “reserve” that apparently we “act like a bunch of snobs”. It’s with a certain amusement then that we approach our first live review with Primavera Club, an indoor festival that complements perfectly the way bigger and less elitist Primavera Sound which takes place in Barcelona in may. The established formula is a winner: a few clubs scattered across the city (and it must be said, not within walking distances), the best of the up and coming indie and electronic so that the line-up reads usually like an end of the year poll, a few old glories and a few acts which will surely see bigger stages a few months later.
The festival started on wednesday with Veronica Falls playing the opening party, but it’s on thursday that things properly kick off. Not that anyone would notice when Spectrals get on the Club Apolo stage: Louis Oliver Jones is visibly more excited than the few ones in the audience; after all, it’s not even 8 in the evening and by spanish standards that must be the equivalent of watching daytime tv, something for the unemployed or the uninterested. Nonetheless, the tender indie pop of this 21 year old troubadour, whose debut “Bad Penny” is in awe of both Phil Spector and The Smiths, slowly warms hearts and by the end of his too short set the locals are cheering his teenagehood love songs more than the Barcelona football top he’s wearing.
Pure X‘s set is an early highlight. Washed in green lights when not in complete darkness (that is part of the rider to anyone playing the LA2, we’ll soon discover), the paucity of the stage and light system serves their purpose just too well, as this is a show to watch with closed eyes. Jesse Jenkins’ rotund bass lines and Nate Grace’s hypnotizing vocals in songs like Dry Ice or Twisted Mirror elevate the Austin’s trio shoegazing into something almost hymnal, while the squalling, echoy guitars keep them firmly noto the ground with a physical, almost sensual presence. That the X stands for ecstacy comes as no surprise.
All of which makes JEFF The Brotherhood an even sharper contrast. On paper, their no pretence Ramones-adoring, MC5-aping rock’n'roll shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but just proof that to e ears every average guitar rebel can successfully be the new messiah. In the live context, however, resistance is futile; brothers Jake (guitars and vocals) and Jamin (drums) Orall own the stage like the renegades they claim to be. Foot on the amp, playing in the crowd, dubious sartorial choices, dumb lyrics, all the cliches are well and truly there. But so is the grin under Jake’s 70′s moustache and on most of our faces. All things considered, probably the most genuine article on display.
The less said about Sleep ∞ Over, the better. A case of hype over content, their live set is just boring. It’s not their stillness or their impenetrable attitude or Stefanie Franciotti’s sleep-inducing rather than dreamy tones. It’s the fact they spend all their time on stage looking for a song. And eventually find it in Romantic Streams, the one that all the blogs went mad over during the summer months. Truth is it’s not even a particularly good one.
Thank heavens for The Pop Group. Whatever the reasons are for their reformation (although I am hoping for purely financial ones, so to give We Are All Prostitutes a new twist), they’re still as ferocious and confrontantional as they ever were in 1979. These days Mark Stewart may need to look at his lyrics book – which explains his persistent cry to dim the lights on stage -, but he still rips theatrically through the dissonant funk of She Is Beyond Good And Evil and Where There’s A Will There’s a Way, shaken by the violent guitar shrieks of Gareth Sager. They even manage to include a cover of Subway Sect’s Chainsmoking, which must seem like a punch in the stomach for all those who hail The Pop Group as serious, jazz discussing, revolution plotting types. Who said post-punk couldn’t have a sense of humour?
JEFF The Brotherhood and The Pop Group photos are courtesy of Derek Robertson
