On the batter with bands...
Over the past year or so promoters I’m Not From London have teamed up with Basford-based microbrewers Black Iris Brewery to stage a series of live gigs held inside the brewery under the banner ‘Piss Up In A Brewery’. It was with a heavy dollop of irony then that when Black Iris recently attempted to organise a beer festival they ended up having to move it to a nearby pub at the last minute. Headline writers everywhere were practically wetting themselves.
Tonight, we are back in the safe hands of I’m Not From London who have handed over booking the acts to Nottingham’s Gringo Records. With Bilge Pump, Grey Hairs and Jutland Songs all obliging, something of the past, present and future of the label are represented.
Jutland Songs have hopped in their van and pelted it down from Glasgow for tonight’s show. When you are an ‘out of towner’ and first on the bill it is never easy, but there are a good amount of bodies down the front eager to listen to what the band has to offer. And what they offer-up are chiming guitars and the sort of melodic indie-rock songwriting that appears easy to play but is really hard to write. I’m sure the band won’t mind me saying, but they owe a huge debut to the high-octane melodic punch of Superchunk and the warm and fuzzy tunefulness of Teenage Fanclub. These are unashamedly big and bright songs; truly refreshing stuff.
The room is rammed out for Grey Hairs and their tense surfy garage rock. With volume and riffs battling it out for supremacy amongst the brewing equipment that acts as a backdrop and towers over tonight’s performers, you would be forgiven for thinking that Grey Hairs crank it up to ear-rattling proportions to compensate for lack of songs. The truth is much simpler: they just enjoy playing rock music the way it was meant to be played – loud. And that joy is infectious. Constantly pushing forward, their set is peppered with a few new tracks alongside what have quickly become recognisable favourites from their two albums to date, Colossal Downer and Serious Business. When Rockin’ Jimmy Finlay picks up his mic stand and points it skyward it’s as if he’s offering up a gift to the god’s of grunge; you could picture Cobain and Cornell looking down with a proud tear twinkling in their eyes, or that may have just been the effects of the 12% porter. The band end on a Dead Moon cover with Dave and Amy swapping instruments, bringing a riotously booming set to a close.
I would be lying if I said things weren’t getting a bit squiffy by the time Bilge Pump take to the stage, but this only acts to heighten the band’s canny knack of flipping time-signatures on their head and making it feel as if time is arbitrarily speeding-up and slowing-down. This isn’t a math rock bore-a-thon or a look-at-us clever-clogs noodle-fest though. Bilge Pump pull-off the rare feat of making that sort-of twiddly post-punk that could easily teeter over in to circle-jerk territory, but instead of getting bogged down in the technicalities they generously litter their songs with a series of euphoric highs. With Neil Turpin locking down the heavy jazz vibes on the drums, this gives freedom to the rest of the band to, simply put, let rip. One minute there are tightly packed glassy guitars and the next there are monolithic squelchy riffs; it’s as if the band are fighting multiple personalities within every song.
With 2017 marking Gringo Records’ twentieth anniversary, tonight’s show is a timely reminder of the label’s support of the UK’s underground music scene, making Nottingham a huge part of that, and it’s varied, sometimes challenging, yet always satisfying output.
Piss-up In A Brewery with Jutland Songs, Grey Hairs and Bilge Pump was at Black Iris Brewery on Saturday 29 July 2017.
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
