Sometimes you walk into a gig and feel totally out of place. For me, it's usually either feeling too old or not being cool enough. Tonight I get that feeling as soon as I join the queue outside. The rest of the crowd seem much younger than myself and from hearing the conversations around me and looking at the shirts and backpacks seem to have a love of Anime and Japanese culture.
Brighton's SLAG are the opening act tonight. They start off with a latin style guitar lick and some sultry, smoky vocals before the rest of the band join in. It then switches to a French flavoured indie pop section which reminds me of Stereolab before they reach a heavy, grunge punk chorus. The second song is a similar mix of styles but the transitions between the various parts are a bit clumsy. The singer, Amelie, has quite a laidback presence but there is something alluring about her vocals. The third track is standard indie rock but is much more consistent and has a good sense of dynamics. The fifth track is the best yet: moody indie pop which starts off with a delicate guitar line and some excellent vocals reminiscent of PJ Harvey. I find myself imagining The Pretenders if they were a noughties indie band. The crowd reaction grows the longer the set goes on. The final track 'Legs' has some nice mathy guitar work, and the note that Amelie hits and maintains at the end is seriously impressive. Overall, fairly promising.
The intro tape for Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs sounds like Boris with its wall of fuzzy, psych guitars. The opening track 'Kakuiumono' has a pounding tribal drumbeat, an insistent guitar lick and some neat dual vocals and is pretty rousing. 'She Is Inside, He Is Outside' elicits a roar of recognition from the opening notes. The driving nature of the instrumental mid section also brings Boris to mind. Alt rock/grunge pop seems to be the main order of the day though and it's pretty good with a decent energy but all the songs are received ecstatically by the crowd. 'New Order' has a solid bassline driving it forward but is combined with melodic guitars and sweet vocals and these give it a great deal of appeal. There is such a sweetness about much of what they play. One track is sunny indie pop but the excellent guitar work adds extra dimensions, and it is at times like these that I'm reminded of some of Cornelius' lo fi indie moments. '1960' is expansive post-punk with a bassline The Cure would have been proud of in their early days and some more excellent guitar playing from Naoya Ogura. It's much more my style so it is hardly surprising that I think it's the best track they've played so far. In fact, it's spectacular. A new track is yet more upbeat indie pop but it does have a driving rhythm and possesses a bit of power. Natsuko Miyamoto has a pretty good voice but they sound best when she and Naoya combine their voices. 'Endroll' is largely instrumental post rock and when the distortion kicks in it is great but it is a lengthy track and some moments are a bit boring. The band speak mainly in Japanese but a fair portion of the audience seem to have some understanding of what they are saying. 'World Is Yours' sounds like a pop punk Boris yet shows their ability to generate some sonic power regadless of genre. The room seems pretty busy from the front but as I leave during the encore I realise that it is only half full. Like many bands who mix styles as much as Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs do, not everything they play tonight hits the mark.
Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs ****
SLAG ***
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