Yr gonna need an ocean...........

Apparently, the best way to organise a freakishly ice cold night in this fair city of ours is to put an All Blacks Test on at the stadium. Seriously, we've had two test matches in Wellington this year, and both nights have been great nights to be inside, in yr bed, under the covers, wearing every bit of clothing you own and watching yr breath freeze before your very eyes. That said, I still dragged myself and some pals to The Mighty Mighty on this cold July 5th to catch one of my favourite bands, The Situations, who were touring around with The Quick and The Dead, and The Transistors. Due to poor road conditions trapping all three bands on top of the Rimutakas for 3 or so hours, none of the bands actually made it to the venue until 11pm, so the night was gonna be a late one, and given the on road difficulties, you could've forgiven the bands for phoning it in, so to speak. But no, they all played blinders.
First up were the Quick and The Dead, a nuggets/british invasion influenced band from Auckland. The lead singer/guitarist was an energetic lad, playing the songs within an inch of their lives, while the rhythm section was totally rock solid. The only real criticism I had was that they under use the back vocals of the bass player, cos they worked really well when deployed.
I was very excited about checking out the Transistors, having heard nothing but praise for them and managing to miss their previous Wellington gigs. And boy were they worth the wait!!!!! Easily one of the most energetic bands I've seen, they sound like early Replacements (a fact hammered home when they covered Customer off the 'Mat brilliant 1st album, Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash). They played their thrashy little garagey Rock and Roll tunes with such force that at one point, the drummer had to play standing up having kicked his drum stool off the back of the stage. Seriously, these guys were sooooo good, I was wondering how The Situations were gonna top this.
I need not have worried, as always The Situtations kicked some serious ass. I mean, come on, I've seen these guys more than most bands and they always blow me away. Having spent x-mas/new years playing gigs in Europe, they were tight as. Didn't recognise many songs, this time they concentrated on new material. By the sounds of the new songs, the next album is gonna be a corker, tho we're not gonna hear them for a while, as while they've finished recording, the band are probably gonna sort out a european release before even thinking about releasing it here, which is sad for me as an fan, but great news to think that the band might actually get to release stuff overseas.
Three great sets from three great bands, on a night where the odds of this happening were slim to none.

Where we goin'....................to the city.................ISTANBUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a couple of years re-living the 80s touring with her old band The Pixies, Kim Deal is back with a new Breeders album. Mountain Battles (4AD), is the bands 4th album, and as per usual, the songs are varied as anything, tho on the whole, the album is popier than 2002s Title TK. The album opens strongly with Overglazed, which is all chiming, shoegazerish guitar action, absolutely stunning. Other album highlights include Walk It Off, which is catchy as hell with a sweat bass led groove, Here No More, a country-ish tune featuring some lovely Deal sister harmonies, and Istanbul, the closest to anything off Title TK, tho with a deceptively catchy chorus. Elsewhere, the quirkiness of some of the songs leave me a little cold. German Studies (sung in German) and Regalame Esta Noche (sung in Spanish) are both guilty of this, songs that are good rather than great, relatively inoffensive tunes.

Overall, another great album from the Deal sisters, I for one am hoping we don't have to wait another 5 years for the next album.

www.breedersdigest.com

"For a singer, he's a good guitarist"

It was a Thursday, May 15th, and some mates and I headed up to the San Fran Bathhouse to sample to sonic pleasures of HDU and Bachelorette. We arrived at 10pm sharp, and were rather surprised to hear that Bachelorette had already started, it being rare for a gig in Wellington to start much before 11. Bachelorette is one lass, a guitar, some keyboards and backing tapes, with a very cool stage set up consisting of a whole bunch of old school computer monitors displaying graphics that looked like the lines on a heart monitor thingy, very much like the cover to Joy Divisions Unknown Pleasures album. The better songs were the ones that were more keyboard led, tho overall, I really enjoyed Bachelorette and will one day get around to checking out the 2(?) she's released so far on Arch Hill Recordings.
After a very short wait, High Dependency Unit made their way onto the stage and immediately set about slaying the crowd with a set that I would describe as epic, loud and awesome. Fans of the somewhat more aggressive side of HDU (songs such as El True East, Visionson, and Schalblute) were in for slim pickings tonite, as HDU concentrated on some of their longer, driftier songs (Lull, etc). Now while I love a good HDU style rave up as much as the next guy, in a live setting, I prefer it when HDU play the longer tunes that give them a chance to stretch out a little, especially when they get to play through a PA system that is up to the task, something that hasn't always been the case when HDU have played the Bathhouse. This time around it was perfect. The one aggressive tune we got, Stupormodel from new album Metamathics, was a nice change of pace, even if the band messed it up the first time and had to start it again. Highlight of the set for me was The Nation Grid and Irma Vep, played one after the other much like on the new album, amazing, powerful and as beautiful live as they are on record. It was pretty much over on the stroke of midnight, good to see bands realizing that some(most) of their fans actually have to get up in the morning for work. A great set by a band that doesn't get out nearly enough. Awesome!!!