This is my first ever blog about wagwan in Cambs for DIY. Read in full (with music embeds etc) here.
January is quiet month in every city, but the past few weeks have seen a surprising amount of bustle in Cambridge as students return, bands start tours and frost bites.
So, I suppose I’ll start by extolling the great number of youthful rock ruffians currently rehearsing all around town. Take one White Label – a group of 18/19 year olds – whose album 'Funded In Mexico', set to materialise on bandcamp on February 8th, is a DIY indie rock delight. Their rollicking ‘Pedestal’, our foretaste of the record, in its exquisite Britishness, endearing scruffiness and droll wordplay, is insidious, fun and incredibly moreish. Expect gigs galore when guitarist Beni returns from Borneo in a couple of months time.
Secondly, Ill Murray – one Cambs band that quite a few of you will know already – are well and truly blooming. Following on from last year’s unbelievable 'Fugu' EP, their debut full-length has already been recorded and should see the light of day in April (which is quite a feat considering they formed only half a year ago). At their recent Corner House headline gig, the band gallantly played the whole thing in its entirety. Predominated by Iceage-aping, hardcore punk numbers vaguely redolent of last year’s ‘March King’, it was an intense yet awe-inspiring listen. One standout was predestined single ‘False Prophets And Football Teams’, Pavement-esque in its throttling feedback, just as catchy as ‘Throats’ and vaguely akin to an early, cathartic The National. Another – the instantly likeable garage fuzz of ‘Hold Fast’. Another – the celestial, reverby chugs of ‘Slackline’, which recalls Galaxie 500 at their esoteric zenith. I could go on. Having gained the support of local promoter lynchpin Green Mind, Murray’s next gig is at the Portland Arms on 9th February supporting the Kate Jackson Group. After that, they play at the Man On The Moon on February 24th with support coming from local grunge tykes Forest, who are also fantastic. More on them another time.
Moving on, that recent Ill Murray gig also engendered my discovery of the quite frankly hilarious support Super Love Giant. A duo fronted by the charismatic Sam Boevey, who spearheaded proceedings with his preachery, effortless chant-talk, their sound was of humongous proportions considering their limitations as a two-piece. Their riffs were a bit Black Keys, their overall frolics were kinda like a funky PS I Love You and all in all they basically tore the frigging place down. One tune they played – ‘Jailbait’ (check Urban Dictionary) – was a comically lewd take on Jason Mraz’ ‘I’m Yours’. There was another one entitled ‘Wank Bank’. They’re a marmite band for sure.
Veering from one extreme to another – from distortion to folk serenity – let’s talk about Dan Wilde, one of the city’s most promising singer-songwriters. Having moved here from Blackpool around a year ago, he’s confirmed to work with producer Karl Odlum (Fionn Regan) on a second LP which will see him move away from the love songs of yore and take a more light-hearted, autobiographical stance: moving house, infuriating traffic wardens and job hunting. Many are already live standards: ‘Pictures’, ‘Demons’ and ‘On Previous Experience’. Indeed, it must be said that where Wilde really comes into his own is in the flesh. I caught him at the wonderfully effervescent Hot Numbers Café off Mill Road just before Chrimbo, never having heard of him before, and I was duly blown away. There’s something incredibly moving and captivating about his live presence: his introverted demeanour, his silver-tongued vocals, his svelte Martynesque finger-picking and his intrinsic knack for a hook. He later told me that he’s influenced by the all the greats – Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison – and this was no surprise given the classic, complex semblance of his sound. His gig at Hot Numbers in support of Mark Geary on 9th February is a must. Another plus? They cook up a marvellous onion bhaji panino.
Another mesmerising solo artist around these parts is one Annie Dressner. Originally from New York, she concocts beautiful, beautiful little paeans of down-tempo Americana. With a saccharine voice and an intricate musicality, her delicate sound ends up resonating like an alt-country hybrid of Jessica Lea Mayfield, She & Him, Gillian Welch and Maia Vidal. A debut album, 'Strangers Who Knew Each Other’s Names', was released last year, and is available from bandcamp now. She has tour dates all over the country lined up over the next couple of months, so I’d check her out if I were you.
Now onto to some longstanding Cambridge favourites, I reintroduce Fuzzy Lights. My favourite gig of the year so far has to be Lanterns On The Lake at Junction 2 a couple of weeks back. But this wasn’t because of their own enthralling folktronica, this was because support came courtesy of the ever-formidable Fuzzy Lights. Having been holed up in a Suffolk barn honing tracks for their new record (recording is pencilled in for later this year), they boldly came out of seclusion to preview new material. And what can I say? The songs played were loud, immaculate, sprawling, post-rocky conundrums. The live show featured heaps upon heaps of disparate instruments, girl-boy vocals, guitar bowing, FX, juxtaposing drone with pretty violin riffs. I couldn’t have asked for more. Apparently the album and preceding 7” should be released soonish.
Finally, one band whom I’m yet to see live are the epic, thunderous duo Model Staggs, aka Tom Miller and Ash Allerton. Their eponymous EP of reverb-laden blues was released at the tail-end of 2011 with a sound they describe as “layered with warped bass tones, sophisticated melodies and rhythms”, all of which is true. Charged by a central DIY aesthetic, their expansive tracks somehow manage to recall Wolf Parade despite their having half as many band members. Watch out for new material later this year, but in meantime download said incredible EP for free below.
