| Ten Grand / Zombie Zombie / Murder By Death / Kid Murder - Denver, Monkey Mania Friday 7th February 2003 |
DIY is the order of the day. Bring your own beer, pay $5 on the “door”, get a small dot by marker pen on your hand, through a curtain, and you’re in.
First up are Kid Murder, who are actually playing when I get there - drums, bass, singer and attitude. The singer has a megaphone over his shoulder and is shouting incoherently to the noise coming from the other two. The bass player walks backwards through the small crowd, leaning against anyone he can find, until his cord goes no further. Like a slow-motion pinball, he weaves in and out, head down, jostling anybody he can come into contact with. The singer does much the same, but without the contact. Although not really much in the way of tunes, ten out of ten for attitude and interaction – nice way to warm up.
The biggest surprise of the night was Murder By Death, who after setting up took up half the floor space. They announce they come from Indiana and off they go. How do I describe the sound? They are pretty unique and the best I can do is to create a hybrid of bands you may (and should) already know.
Classical piano leaps out in a similar way that Lapsus Linguae use their keyboards and forms a kind of platform, along with the bass guitar and drums… that’s until the guitarist decides to see if anyone can hear him six blocks away. But that’s not the end… they can start out in a quiet mood not unlike the Godspeed slow bits, and then it all goes a bit mad, with the electric cello joining in the mayhem – this gives them the kind of aura that bands like Gertrude or The Monsoon Bassoon exude – chaotic, beautiful, scary – all at the same time.
They build up the songs slowly and subtly to such an extent that you don’t even realise that the volume is so loud that the person standing next to you is shouting in you ear, and you still can’t hear them. This is a band to watch get bigger, and they’re all just out of their teens! They used to be called Little Joe Gould but changed their name recently – check out the album under that name called ‘Like The Exorcist, But More Breakdancing’ – gives you an idea, but the live show is the nuts.
Back down to earth with a huge crash. Zombie Zombie – lame scream-core incoherent playing. I think they played the same song five times in a row, but the audience was too drunk to care and jumped around anyway. Next!
A bloke playing a banjo – at least we have lots of different genres tonight. But the crowd were having none of it, and talked and were generally disinterested - couldn't hear much.
Now for the band I had come to see. Ten Grand come recommended (from their label of course) but I trust them. They set-up with the drummer facing 45 degrees backwards at the front of the crowd-line, with Zach the bass player set-up the same on the opposite side. They encouraged people to go behind them for a better view, so they had people surrounding them on all sides.
Noise, movement, broken strings, energy, power, sweat, disarray – and this was all in the first song! The best I can do to describe them is akin to a hardcore Check Engine. They share many of the same traits of their label mates on Sick Room Records. Easy going, not trying but still being brilliant, having a laugh… but they are far more menacing. As one guitarist is busy singing, jumping and waving the guitar around, just missing people by inches, the other guitar player is hunched up in a ball on the floor trying to squeeze the most maniacal noises from the poor instrument – then he jumps on the drum-kit and turns the lights on and off, while the drummer tries to keep the kit together with members of the crowd being pushed into his kit, and the guitarist slipping off the bass drum.
At the end the audience will not let them go – we have them surrounded – we demand another song. They oblige, even though not headlining, and the crowd go nuts again.
This is great. All live shows should be this good. Fuck the shoe-gazers – fuck the laptop jockeys – fuck the “serious bands”. If they make it to the UK they MUST tour with Cat On Form – SOUTHERN TAKE NOTICE.
Shit it’s 01:00 and I’m up for work at 06:00 – missed the last band, but went home with two new CD’s.
skippy
the following cartoon appeared in Westword, Denver's free weekly Arts, Music etc paper about the show...
