EDITION 002 - APRIL/MAY REVIEWS

Thomas Truax
@ The Adelphi

When did I first get into music? Probably in the womb, my mom listening to something.”

How can you put something into words when you can’t be exactly sure what you’ve witnessed? He appears on stage, house lights down, illuminated only by a small light on top of the Hornicator - an invention of his own incorporating, an old gramophone horn, microphones, guitar strings, a kazoo and who knows what else. Running a violin bow across the strings and wailing like a banshee. No one dares breathe, waiting to see what he’ll do next. The atmosphere is intense yet, unlike other musicians considered progressive or arty, Thomas’ performance doesn’t leave you cold or confused. There’s a hugely funny and warm side to his music and the comedy that goes along with. An air that he knows what he’s doing is slightly silly. His set ranges from rattling full on rock tunes where he bounces around the stage and then all the way to darkly perplexing atmospheric soundscapes on the instruments of his creation, Sister Spinster and the Hornicator. Spectacular tales about his escape from an Orphanage in Wowtown, a mythical town about which he writes stories that include the fans on his mailing list, and escaping to become a regular on the NYC anti folk scene.

“I seem to learn more about it when I’m here then when I’m actually there, but there’s millions of bands.”

His second creation, Sister Spinster, is an automated drum machine, like something escaped from a junkyard, shinning metallic wheels spinning and wiring ominously, rapping against drums and clashing cymbals which Thomas sings on about “Crucifix Kites” and stares wide eyed and vacantly at the ceiling.
“I’m not sure I even have an ideal sound, but somewhere in my subconscious a bell goes off and tells me that’s the sound I want. I just experiment with sounds”

words: Jason Karlson pic: Chris Saunders

Emma Rugg / Steve Reed
@ The Lamp

Although often drowned out by the noise of background chit-chat there’s a lot to be said for the simplicity of one man (or woman) and their guitar, especially when it comes in this kind of package. Steve Reed is currently enjoying local success and flourishing sales of his first demo CD ‘so on and so forth’ and tonight he showcases its songs and his considerable talent. Well crafted and touchingly emotional yet easily accessible and wryly observed. I spent the rest of the night with the melody of‘ Try It Some Time’ refusing to give me any peace and get out of my head. Next up one of Hull’s favourite daughters, Emma Rugg. Emma was recently seen on BBC 1’S Fame Academy - The Next Generation.’ It’s easy to see why she ended up being sent home for being too good. We heard more of her beautiful ballads from her debut ‘Isolated Impression’ as well as new tune Oceans which showed a definite change in track, much more fierce than reflective. I would be very interested to see a bit more of this and maybe even see what a band could do for it? Although this set was a bit flighty in parts she still delivered the goods and charmed as always. Through her songs she lays herself bare to everyone, the haunting vocals seem to shoot straight from her soul to yours. Young female singer songwriters seem to be all the rage a the minute so hopefully Emma Rugg’s scintillating intimacy that flies from her will soon be affecting a whole lot bigger crowd than just Hull.

The Lady

Sidewinder/ The Last People On Earth / The Landau’s / Mile Drive
The Box @ The Asylum

Tonight’s Box takes a page out of the recent pop idol popularity contest and gives the bands a set number of tickets to sell. The more tickets the bands sell the higher up the bill they go. Rewarding the bands effort, but necessarily their musical ingenuity.

In terms of sales the first band up are Sidewinder. A poor turn out at the start of the evening for this band is the only low point of the night, the band might as well have been practising alone at home. Sidewinder don’t let this stop them from performing a really entertaining, amazing sounding set of soft rock songs.

Live on stage gives The Last People On Earth a chance to really shine. On there demo they sound like the unlikely offspring of Ian Curtis style vocals and Radiohead weirdness, yet on stage with some of the stranger sounds from the CD toned down the keyboards really come to the forefront giving them a gritty Doors-y sound. It’s a shame that the bands that sold the most tickets were so average, proof positive that ticket sales don’t always equal a good band. Mile Drive plough through an unimpressive set of classic rock with a good helping of rock posturing. At least they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The Landau’s introduce one of their songs as being “About a Robin Reliant” and I’m sure it’s a very nice song, if only I could hear the thing. The vocals are drowned out by the guitars and sounds utterly swamped among the other noise. None of the other bands suffer this problem tonight so it’s probably the microphone fairies again! While not terribly original but ambitious and young enough to achieve much. They can at least return home knowing that they’re popular in terms of ticket sales.

Jason Karlson

The Levellers
@ Hull City Hall

It had been six years since these legendary crusties had last played the city and for the fervent crowd it had been six years too long. Dreadlocked and tie-dye t-shirt wearing mega fans were out in force along with those younger and downright more sensible looking chaps and chappettes all eager for a shindig. Right from the very beginning the band played with such exuberance as if their back to basics lives truly depended on this one performance with “Fifteen Years” literally sending the whole crowd into a rocking fiddle orientated barn dance marathon that would continue all night. Bass guitarist Jeremy Cunningham’s red dreads seemed to flow down to his knees but it was the sheer joy etched on his face and manic stage activities, which made him, seem like a blessed fan who had won the chance to play with his idols for one night and thus you couldn’t take your eyes off him. The Levellers have never been flavour of the month in terms of the latest fly-by music genre that certain high and mighty music magazines like to take as their own creation but the secret to their success is that they know what they are good at and they stick to that formula. Such folk-rock anthems as “Too Real” and “Beautiful Day” are shouted straight back to the face of singer Mark Chadwick who’s distinctive if unspectacular snarl managed to hold up through the night and then come into its own on the bands soaring manifesto “One Way” at the beginning of the first of two encores, an unforeseen treat, and therefore maybe an explanation for a hole appearing in the middle of the stage due to the extra excess foot stomping and joyful leaping by the band. A good time had by all then.

David Thurby

The Obsession
Under the Influence @ The Adelphi

The second of this month’s bands brought to us by Under the Influence carrying the tag line ‘The Next Big Thing’ are Manchester’s The Obsession. The tag is a heavy one, so much to be proved, so many expectations and so many wanting to prove the pundits wrong but with any luck The Obsession should actually achieve it. Tonight’s turn out didn’t match that of The Ordinary Boys but that didn’t stop a rip roaring set.

Thankfully this is a Manchester band that doesn’t take its inspiration from the usual Mancunian influences such as Oasis or The Stone Roses but harks back to much better, though bleaker, times and has much stronger feelings of the Joy Division and the Buzzcocks. Lead singer Nick’s deadpan style shouty vocals are very reminiscent of Ian Curtis and the punchy bass-heavy tunes feel like a good dose of punk rock. On a local tip they are quite akin to the Senses - similar catchy riff laden songs to pogo too. Utilising the infamous space at the front in The Adelphi, (they should employ inverse bouncing and throw people forwards!) Nick leaps about, throwing himself on the floor writhing around in pure rock star style. The Obsession are both captivating and charismatic playing with full force. Their current EP Wise Blood gives some of tonight’s set stealers including the fabulous Burning Curve and also fast and furious Exit Wounds. With The Obsession’s raw energy and commanding stage presence you can see why the industry are getting excited let’s just hope that people outside the industry get the message. If they carry on playing like that I don’t think they can fail.

The Lady

Turismo
The Sesh @ The Linnet and Lark

When a band loses a member it can sometimes be their undoing, the beginning of a downward spiral signalling the end. Or it can be their making, causing a rethink and bringing about a renewed burst of enthusiasm.

The latter is definitely what has happened to Turismo since the departure of guitarist Mike. Turismo have holed themselves away, reassessed what they want to do, written a whole heap of new songs and come back stronger than ever. The fact that they’ve not played very much in recent months ensured a good turn out, as they always had a good pull even when they were ‘12 gigs a week’ Turismo, nobody was disappointed. Kicking off with a quite but typically quirky acoustic number from captivating lead singer Baggot they then burst into a roller coaster superb set including old favourites and brilliant new songs. Still impossible to categorise they’re were showing us their harder side, heavier and louder. Some songs almost proper punk others verging on ska, all immediate and all choc full of the kind of character we’ve come to expect from Turismo. New songs ‘Dirty Finger Nails’ and ‘Spitting at Da Llama’s’ were instant winners. The impressive tightness with which they played together showed they had forged a very secure unit, which was now undoubtedly ready to go forth and conquer the world! This was a new and improved Turismo where even the much-loved older tunes such as ‘Skegness’ and ‘Rabbi’ hadn’t escaped an injection of excitement. And of course there was all the usual banter and entertainment, even an 8 track is now involved or at least it would be if it had worked. It was a really good gig very a very good band who seem to have got it all sussed made up their minds and unquestionably brought it on!

The Lady


	EDITION 002 - APRIL/MAY REVIEWS Thomas Truax @ The Adelphi When did I first get into music? Probably in the womb, my mom listening to something.” How can you put something into words when you can’t be exactly sure what you’ve witnessed? He appears on stage, house lights down, illuminated only by a small light on top of the Hornicator - an invention of his own incorporating, an old gramophone horn, microphones, guitar strings, a kazoo and who knows what else. Running a violin bow across the strings and wailing like a banshee. No one dares breathe, waiting to see what he’ll do next. The atmosphere is intense yet, unlike other musicians considered progressive or arty, Thomas’ performance doesn’t leave you cold or confused. There’s a hugely funny and warm side to his music and the comedy that goes along with. An air that he knows what he’s doing is slightly silly. His set ranges from rattling full on rock tunes where he bounces around the stage and then all the way to darkly perplexing atmospheric soundscapes on the instruments of his creation, Sister Spinster and the Hornicator. Spectacular tales about his escape from an Orphanage in Wowtown, a mythical town about which he writes stories that include the fans on his mailing list, and escaping to become a regular on the NYC anti folk scene. “I seem to learn more about it when I’m here then when I’m actually there, but there’s millions of bands.” His second creation, Sister Spinster, is an automated drum machine, like something escaped from a junkyard, shinning metallic wheels spinning and wiring ominously, rapping against drums and clashing cymbals which Thomas sings on about “Crucifix Kites” and stares wide eyed and vacantly at the ceiling. “I’m not sure I even have an ideal sound, but somewhere in my subconscious a bell goes off and tells me that’s the sound I want. I just experiment with sounds” words: Jason Karlson pic: Chris Saunders Emma Rugg / Steve Reed @ The Lamp Although often drowned out by the noise of background chit-chat there’s a lot to be said for the simplicity of one man (or woman) and their guitar, especially when it comes in this kind of package. Steve Reed is currently enjoying local success and flourishing sales of his first demo CD ‘so on and so forth’ and tonight he showcases its songs and his considerable talent. Well crafted and touchingly emotional yet easily accessible and wryly observed. I spent the rest of the night with the melody of‘ Try It Some Time’ refusing to give me any peace and get out of my head. Next up one of Hull’s favourite daughters, Emma Rugg. Emma was recently seen on BBC 1’S Fame Academy - The Next Generation.’ It’s easy to see why she ended up being sent home for being too good. We heard more of her beautiful ballads from her debut ‘Isolated Impression’ as well as new tune Oceans which showed a definite change in track, much more fierce than reflective. I would be very interested to see a bit more of this and maybe even see what a band could do for it? Although this set was a bit flighty in parts she still delivered the goods and charmed as always. Through her songs she lays herself bare to everyone, the haunting vocals seem to shoot straight from her soul to yours. Young female singer songwriters seem to be all the rage a the minute so hopefully Emma Rugg’s scintillating intimacy that flies from her will soon be affecting a whole lot bigger crowd than just Hull. The Lady Sidewinder/ The Last People On Earth / The Landau’s / Mile Drive The Box @ The Asylum Tonight’s Box takes a page out of the recent pop idol popularity contest and gives the bands a set number of tickets to sell. The more tickets the bands sell the higher up the bill they go. Rewarding the bands effort, but necessarily their musical ingenuity. In terms of sales the first band up are Sidewinder. A poor turn out at the start of the evening for this band is the only low point of the night, the band might as well have been practising alone at home. Sidewinder don’t let this stop them from performing a really entertaining, amazing sounding set of soft rock songs. Live on stage gives The Last People On Earth a chance to really shine. On there demo they sound like the unlikely offspring of Ian Curtis style vocals and Radiohead weirdness, yet on stage with some of the stranger sounds from the CD toned down the keyboards really come to the forefront giving them a gritty Doors-y sound. It’s a shame that the bands that sold the most tickets were so average, proof positive that ticket sales don’t always equal a good band. Mile Drive plough through an unimpressive set of classic rock with a good helping of rock posturing. At least they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The Landau’s introduce one of their songs as being “About a Robin Reliant” and I’m sure it’s a very nice song, if only I could hear the thing. The vocals are drowned out by the guitars and sounds utterly swamped among the other noise. None of the other bands suffer this problem tonight so it’s probably the microphone fairies again! While not terribly original but ambitious and young enough to achieve much. They can at least return home knowing that they’re popular in terms of ticket sales. Jason Karlson The Levellers @ Hull City Hall It had been six years since these legendary crusties had last played the city and for the fervent crowd it had been six years too long. Dreadlocked and tie-dye t-shirt wearing mega fans were out in force along with those younger and downright more sensible looking chaps and chappettes all eager for a shindig. Right from the very beginning the band played with such exuberance as if their back to basics lives truly depended on this one performance with “Fifteen Years” literally sending the whole crowd into a rocking fiddle orientated barn dance marathon that would continue all night. Bass guitarist Jeremy Cunningham’s red dreads seemed to flow down to his knees but it was the sheer joy etched on his face and manic stage activities, which made him, seem like a blessed fan who had won the chance to play with his idols for one night and thus you couldn’t take your eyes off him. The Levellers have never been flavour of the month in terms of the latest fly-by music genre that certain high and mighty music magazines like to take as their own creation but the secret to their success is that they know what they are good at and they stick to that formula. Such folk-rock anthems as “Too Real” and “Beautiful Day” are shouted straight back to the face of singer Mark Chadwick who’s distinctive if unspectacular snarl managed to hold up through the night and then come into its own on the bands soaring manifesto “One Way” at the beginning of the first of two encores, an unforeseen treat, and therefore maybe an explanation for a hole appearing in the middle of the stage due to the extra excess foot stomping and joyful leaping by the band. A good time had by all then. David Thurby The Obsession Under the Influence @ The Adelphi The second of this month’s bands brought to us by Under the Influence carrying the tag line ‘The Next Big Thing’ are Manchester’s The Obsession. The tag is a heavy one, so much to be proved, so many expectations and so many wanting to prove the pundits wrong but with any luck The Obsession should actually achieve it. Tonight’s turn out didn’t match that of The Ordinary Boys but that didn’t stop a rip roaring set. Thankfully this is a Manchester band that doesn’t take its inspiration from the usual Mancunian influences such as Oasis or The Stone Roses but harks back to much better, though bleaker, times and has much stronger feelings of the Joy Division and the Buzzcocks. Lead singer Nick’s deadpan style shouty vocals are very reminiscent of Ian Curtis and the punchy bass-heavy tunes feel like a good dose of punk rock. On a local tip they are quite akin to the Senses - similar catchy riff laden songs to pogo too. Utilising the infamous space at the front in The Adelphi, (they should employ inverse bouncing and throw people forwards!) Nick leaps about, throwing himself on the floor writhing around in pure rock star style. The Obsession are both captivating and charismatic playing with full force. Their current EP Wise Blood gives some of tonight’s set stealers including the fabulous Burning Curve and also fast and furious Exit Wounds. With The Obsession’s raw energy and commanding stage presence you can see why the industry are getting excited let’s just hope that people outside the industry get the message. If they carry on playing like that I don’t think they can fail. The Lady Turismo The Sesh @ The Linnet and Lark When a band loses a member it can sometimes be their undoing, the beginning of a downward spiral signalling the end. Or it can be their making, causing a rethink and bringing about a renewed burst of enthusiasm. The latter is definitely what has happened to Turismo since the departure of guitarist Mike. Turismo have holed themselves away, reassessed what they want to do, written a whole heap of new songs and come back stronger than ever. The fact that they’ve not played very much in recent months ensured a good turn out, as they always had a good pull even when they were ‘12 gigs a week’ Turismo, nobody was disappointed. Kicking off with a quite but typically quirky acoustic number from captivating lead singer Baggot they then burst into a roller coaster superb set including old favourites and brilliant new songs. Still impossible to categorise they’re were showing us their harder side, heavier and louder. Some songs almost proper punk others verging on ska, all immediate and all choc full of the kind of character we’ve come to expect from Turismo. New songs ‘Dirty Finger Nails’ and ‘Spitting at Da Llama’s’ were instant winners. The impressive tightness with which they played together showed they had forged a very secure unit, which was now undoubtedly ready to go forth and conquer the world! This was a new and improved Turismo where even the much-loved older tunes such as ‘Skegness’ and ‘Rabbi’ hadn’t escaped an injection of excitement. And of course there was all the usual banter and entertainment, even an 8 track is now involved or at least it would be if it had worked. It was a really good gig very a very good band who seem to have got it all sussed made up their minds and unquestionably brought it on! The Lady