aaamusic | On 29, Sep 2014

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Thursday 25th September, Manchester

September is always a busy month for events and Manchester seems to be on a roll with how many great gigs have been coming to town. Whether these are student themed nights, alt-rock, dance or punk, there’s something for everyone and just by looking around you can see the city is bustling with people trying to get somewhere, and it’s quite an interesting sight to see; watching people’s perplexed faces, studying their surroundings and deciding where to go.

On with tonight’s proceedings at Sound Control: the audience is fast becoming that ever-recognisable crowd of young and anxious teenagers, which is intrinsic to the pop punk genre; the youthful glee of aches and pains of the heart, that we all struggle to deal with throughout our life, has become synonymous with the genre.

The first band are called Loosing Sleep, who bring with them a sound that was quite distant from that of the headliner’s tonight, and one might argue their musicianship was more refined; with driving melodies, that were in tune may I add, made for a far more interesting listening experience. The band were a bit out of their depth, as with most bands who have the duty of supporting a headliner, but they took it in their stride and proved their worth.

Next was Spraynard – a band quite akin to the last band, but provided a little more energy, changing the atmosphere dramatically. The band were nothing spectacular, mainly focusing on being fast, melodic and catchy, and to their credit they have honed in on that particularly well, but as the genre of punk persists, and like pop punk, I find the sound begins to grate on you after a while.

Tonight’s main event Modern Baseball take to the stage looking like they had just come out bed, all hazy-eyed, dressed in clothing they’d found lying around, and ready to play a show. You could have mistaken them for members of the crowd, were it not for the obvious fandom in the room tonight. Having seen this band once before I was well aware of what to expect, but I was careful to with any expectations, as being an avid listener of music you want to try to take everything at face value. Then again, as you grow older, trying to repress reservations for music gets harder, because you either become set in your ways of what you like to enjoy, or are open to everything there is to be heard. Tonight, there has to be a line drawn and Modern Baseball are a band that shouldn’t be taken too seriously, just like their peers before them, Blink-182, Bowling For Soup, etc.; bands that are happy to mock themselves. But people love them all the same. If you can share that attitude with their music, in spite of its throwaway quality, you would have definitely enjoyed a pleasant evening.

Review + Photos: Joe Sheridan