Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Paul Reynolds – www.onetwelveseventyfive.tumblr.com
Cheatahs and No Joy’s joint headline tour is rather eccentrically named the ‘Royal Baby Upon Thine Tour’.
I’m all for celebrating a royal birth, but are the Windsors really big shoegaze fans? I could see William liking Coldplay, maybe Harry a bit of house… but My Bloody Valentine, Spaceman 3, Ride? Seems unlikely.
Local support, Kaleidoscopes, are definitely shoegaze fans (see recent recording ‘Glitter’), but first and foremost they are a straight up rock band. Sabbath-esque riffs mix with melodic guitar solos, and they’re as unfashionable as all that sounds, albeit in a totally endearing way.
I just wish they had a little more confidence and ambition; their drummer describes their CD as sounding “alright” and he’s correct really, they do sound alright. But they have the potential to sound so much better than that.
Tonight’s first headliners, the Canadian quartet No Joy, are a fuzzy delight. An extremely loud, fuzzy delight – sweet and delicate female vocals acting as the perfect counterpoint to the almost mathematical rhythms of guitars and drums.
Their music, played tonight as an uninterrupted set with ambient music filling the gaps between songs, is always moving forward and in often surprising directions. No Joy’s melodic new single ‘Moon in my Mouth’ is a perfect introduction to their sound, and with new album More Faithful set for release in June I’m sure many more will be coming our way.
Tonight’s second headliners, Cheatahs, play early 1990’s Alt Rock. The London-based four piece recently released their Murasaki EP on Wichita Records, full of driving guitar riffs and mistily pretty vocal lines.
But although they are capable musicians playing thoughtfully constructed songs, this is music that is quite difficult to get excited about. Cheatahs don’t offer me anything new and just sound (and look) like they have time travelled from 1992.
Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with that. Either way, it’s perfect Sunday night music – hazy, dreamy and not too difficult.
Maybe Princess Charlotte would be impressed after all.
For more on Cheatahs, visit http://cheatahs.net/
For more on No Joy, visit http://nojoymusic.com/
For more on Kaleidoscopes, visit https://soundcloud.com/kaleidoscopesuk
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For further listings from the Hare & Hounds, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/event-listings/
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