Sponsored by
GIG REVIEW: Stag and Dagger Festival
May 22 @ Various Venues, Leeds
It's fortunate that Player Piano's songs are better than his banter. The introduction to Mad Dog is a case in point. "It's not really about a dog," notes Jeremy Radway helpfully.
In the same way that the Indiana born, London-based artist isn't really concerned with a type of self-playing piano. Rather, his blend of Ed Harcourt, Eels and lightweight Mark Lanegan is at once familiar and unfamiliar; pleasant while drifting in one ear and out the other. As such, the set's only truly memorable moment comes courtesy of percussionist and backing vocalist Johnny Lynch. Carried away with the bluesy sentiments of Mercy, his theatrical operatics sound like Anthony Hegarty being garrotted.
It's not a mistake he repeats when he returns with his own one-man band, the Pictish Trail. Gently restrained in timbre, the Fife songwriter is also distinctly odd in his electro-folk clash of a cheap disco beat, acoustic guitar and accordion. Joined on stage by Kenny Anderson's King Creosote, who's limbering up for his own set, it's clear that the pair share a mutual love of the Beta Band and have generously liberated their less psychedelic influences.
It's a sound far removed from that practiced by Stockholm based Dag For Dag. Siblings Sarah and Jacob Snavely furrow a dark, cavernous path that takes its cue from punk's approbation of rawk. Offset by matching gold and red sparkly headbands, they mix Joy Division's guitar sound with the diluted blues of Duke Spirit. The result is by turns scary, as when Sarah accusingly screams "How dare you!", and silly, as when she headbangs and rock poses her way through Joan Jett's entire repertoire. It's hard to tell if these extremes are serious or ironic but, either way, it provides 30 minutes of dumb entertainment.
This is also true of Brooklyn's Vivian Girls, who combine girl group pop with garage-rock. Part Bikini Kill, part The Priscillas, their tales of mopeds and dates are delivered with ragged harmonies and a ropy sound that only underscores their DIY ethos. This is pop with no pretensions to greatness or striking originality, their commitment to fun being perfectly demonstrated by bassist Kickball Katy merrily bashing a tambourine on drummer Ali Koehler's head before all three members swap instruments for no discernable reason.
Pointless fun is also something that could be levelled at Telepathe. The Brooklyn duo hide behind an array of drum pads, synthesisers and samplers and create a range of interesting sounds that appear to serve the sole purpose of keeping themselves entertained. Thus a deep bass mashes against the dispassionate vocals of Busy Gangnes and Melissa Livaudais, while dense house rhythms clatter around in an unfocused but somehow naively captivating manner. With all their tracks flowing together they create a mix tape on which a debt to Ladytron jostles against that to Derrick May and Malcolm McLaron's Double Dutch.
The idea of creating strange noises also appeals to Micachu & The Shapes but rather than charm, the London trio endlessly irritate. They give every impression of trying too hard and, as such, their art-school rock possesses a strained wackiness that has all the sincerity of a Damien Hirst installation. Thus Mica Levi's acoustic guitar sounds like a cheese grater being played by George Formby's rubber band and Raisa Khan's keyboard makes the pinging tone of a faulty microwave. The fact that each track only lasts about two minutes would usually be a redeeming feature. In this instance, however, it's simply far too long and the cumulative effect is to seriously pull the audience out of shape by the end of their set.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Politics: Mark Hookham's Westminster blog - 5.33pm
- Castleford RSPB Fairburn Ings: High wire act Swallows’ summer parade
- Worker dies on North Yorkshire Moors Railway
- Video: Restaurant reopens on Leeds Harry Ramsden’s site after £500,000 refit
- Chocolat author will tempt guests at Leeds Big Bookend Festival
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
