aaamusic | On 26, Feb 2011

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London, 24th February

Given that this reviewer had spent the preceding few days coughing up excitements and running a fever, she had been wondering whether she would be up for gigging on this much-anticipated night. And yet, as it turned out, a shock treatment of red-hot rock was just what the doctor forgot to order as Rocksound’s awards tour swung around to London.

I was unsold on March On Rome, the local opening act. Despite the fact their first song opened with a riff lifted from The Ramones, the band’s material turned out to a somewhat bland and overlong mix of post-hardcore and new wave. The lead guitarist was rather impressive, solo after riff after solo unrolling with impressive precision and skill, but the rest of the band were simply aimless and uncharismatic. There isn’t any other band that sounds like Duran Duran covering Enter Shikari and Pearl Jam, and perhaps there are reasons for that.

Fearing my flu had left me jaded, we quickly moved of Xerpts, who thankfully refuted that with a series of short, sharp pop-punk songs in the vein of 2000s UK acts. If Biffy Clyro had a love affair with The Buzzcocks rather than Sunny Day Real Estate, they may have developed a sound like the Xerpts. Despite a slightly cocky yet undeniably attention-grabbing frontman (he rather fancied himself; thankfully so did many audience members so perhaps this wasn’t uncalled for) their set was a smart and sharp cut of three-piece rocking out, loud and bassy with driving percussion and catchy riffs. Unpretentious and unfussy, the perfect antidote to any undercooked keyboards or weak vocals.

Now comes the dilemna of the night that indeed split myself and fellow reviewer Will Howard: are you here for Japanese Voyeurs or Dinosaur Pile Up? Both bands ripped apart the stage with virtuosic grace and guitars ablaze. First up, Japanese Voyeurs flooded the stage with their five-piece lineup. Each member felt entirely integrated into their venomous riot grrl-inspired metal bile to create a many-legged beast of monolithic sound. Despite a muted guitar mixing issue that the whole bill suffered from, Japanese Voyeurs’ set was a seething behemoth. How one manages to blend black metal, Daisy Chainsaw and Nine Inch Nails is a truly challenging issue, but they managed it with aplomb. Starting of with what may be dubiously termed their “quieter songs”, I was worried this might be a slow burning setlist, but then the flames of hell caught and the audience were pitched into an inferno of sound. Melodic basslines roared out under thick cymbal pounding, and the band routed guitars through bass amps to fully exploit the menace of low-end rumble with piercingly distorted treble. Romily Alice is a stellar frontwomen in her own manner. Much like Katiejane Garside’s long-lost niece, her pixie vocalisations are a terrifying juxtaposition against the sonic savagery of the band, as she screams out obscenities and croons some of the most disturbing lyricism one could possibly hear in a mainstream venue. ‘You’re So Cool’ is a barbed attack on childhood, whereas ‘Dumb’ is not only crunchingly heavy but makes the skin crawl with incestuous and heretical outcries. Latest single ‘Milk Teeth’ provoked a moshpit with its thrashing grungey fury as does the chilling Queenadreena via Helvete of ‘Smother Me’, and a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Closer’ was done with such attitude and conviction that it simply blew me away. No other band I can think of could manage to pull it off without cliché, but by ditching the off-kilter synth for menacing Black Sabbath backing to the childish vocals yelping a whispering with equal malignance those immortal lyrics, the band dragged the audience on a red-lit tour of hell on earth, and all I can say is that it was a truly phenomenal experience.

Dinosaur Pile Up closed the night, bringing us back to safety, if not reality, with their wry and decidedly British take on grunge. A genre known for its nihilism, DPU instead have chosen to take the growing pains and angst we all experience, and write tongue in cheek yet earnest songs that feature heaving cymbal-edged drum attacks, seismic bass, and the loud rock chords of many, many Gibson Explorer guitars. The band were on fine form tonight, as ever, even if they once again faced the challenge of following up a band that are not merely good but genuinely unhinged. However, even if they weren’t quite on a par with their preceding act’s musically talented terrorism in attitude, the band are without a shadow of a doubt in possession of shedloads of talent, skill and passion. Rocking out with agility and ability near as dammit sparking from them, they threw their lovable songs out to all in the venue. They are an incredibly good-natured band, boasting an immediately accessible sound that is radio friendly in its inoffensiveness, yet never cynical or middle-of-the-road. They simply want to write songs for everyone, and everyone was enjoying this tonight, the metalheads bouncing off the pop kids in the moshpit, all smiling along to tracks like ‘My Rock N Roll’. We were treated to a spontaneous one-song encore, which was adoringly lapped up.

The night was ended as everyone spilled out, grinning and rather deafened. I would argue that there were two standout bands that night, and although only DPU will find widespread airplay (and rightfully so; they are the world’s most deservedly huggable alternative act) both them and Japanese Voyeurs are without a doubt two of the greatest acts to start breaking out of the 90s revival to achieve recognition.

Authors & Photos: Katie H-Halinski & Will Howard