see monsters - fleece and firkin, bristol. 7/10.
see monsters have now settled on a and name they are currently on tour support lowgold.
they are signed to bournemouth cottage industry label superglider and are hopefully going to get an lp proper sorted out sharpish.
superglider is a label that is run by music fans and the love and attention to detail shows in every aspect from the sublime packaging to the wonderful music which covers many genres (i dont have to tell you where there are reviews aplenty on this lot do i ? ), but how will this sublime music transfer to the live setting ?
on record they are quiet, calming and exude a warming atmosphere, so when they take to the stage in black looking all intimidating ones interest is already piqued.
this gang are not going to hide behind their instruments and smile sweetly .. they have some serious intentions and they want your soul. there may be some pain.
opening song was a direct lift from the bands only release and doesn't move far from the original product but does reveal the sweetness of griffs voice and the talent within the bands ranks. and a word of congratulation must go to dave on drums, normally involved with many aspects of the superglider machine, especially betika - it is revealed that he not a drummer as such, he is just filling in .. well he definitely fooled me. bravo sir.
hidden behind his center stage old school moog, griff is obviously loving every minute. having seduced the audience, things quickly get interesting, rizlo (stage right - attacking his synth like a la emmersonlake&palmer) takes off his jacket, black of course, and picks up a bass guitar. tall, lanky and jet black long fringe he quickly is transformed into a rockgod monster of epic proportions like he has been created from neil gaimans sandman gothic masterpiece comic book, and is under orders to destruct with his subsonic bass sounds, he has a stage presence that is compelling and hugely entertaining at the same time.
when new track 'in league with dolphins' hits its stride all becomes clear. they rock. the track pumps the adrenalin, with its moog sci-fi overdubs, peter hook-esque bassline and layered guitars this is damaging stuff, as does the dubbed up intro to the next track (was never good at track names) showing that they are not going to be lumped into the flaming lips with laptops' genre that easily.
and so the bands performance continues for far too short a time.
mooro during the final track then decides its time to put down his guitar and lights up, just looks at the surroundings, is he bored, i'm confused ? while griff twiddles with his analogue knobs and rizlo does his thing making a gloriously controlled racket. moments later rizlo too discards with his instrument of darkness, yet still the noise continues. and so the 2 hold their stage positions and glare at the crowd .. surveying the scene i could tell there were people that looked scared .. this isn't what they expected from their colplay-lite evening of entertainment .. a perfect ending.
rock monsters. scary monsters. noisy monsters. monster monster.