Something a little unusual for this month's Fuzzbox as two bands en route to Liverpool Psych Fest join two local bands as I'm Not From London took over both the upstairs and downstairs at The Angel Microbrewery...
Kicking things off downstairs are Birmingham three-piece Table Scraps. They have the sound of a mid-1970s band from Los Angeles who are on the precipice between becoming a famous hair-metal band and a critically acclaimed but unheard of punk band. Lying Through Your Teeth has that proto-punk sound while other tracks have more of a heavy rock thing. Yours Unconditionally sounds a bit like Alice Cooper but with more guitar noodling. Their recent single, My Obsession comes with a pair of 3D glasses, oh, and they have a song called Vampire Motorcycle.
Then it's upstairs for Mass Datura, a five-piece from London with a love of interesting knitwear. It's the first gig of a UK tour and they should go down really well at Liverpool Psych Fest as they have that really modern psychedelic sound like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. That's slightly reductive as Rise Up also has elements of Arcade Fire about it too - the good Arcade Fire, before they did that terrible double disco album. There's plenty of spring reverb on the guitar and the sound is rounded out with a violin, giving them a little something different to most bands, which is great.
There's just time to get back downstairs and grab a beer before Slumb Party kick off their set with Accident. Last time I saw the band they were missing their saxophone player but he really adds to their jerky, angular sound, giving some songs an air of Dexys Midnight Runners. They play a new song, Mid Life Crisis and end the set with Questions Questions Questions. Not even frontman Joey getting drunk, forgetting some words and almost losing his voice could put a dampener on a great show, full of energy.
Finally, it's back up the stairs for American band Male Gaze. It's always a little worrying to see three guys in white t-shirts, jeans with leather jacket and shades on the lead singer as there is always the possibility that you're accidentally seeing a Grease tribute act. Fortunately, it's actually a muscular take on 1950s rock 'n' roll, all power chords and what not. There's also a decent smattering of more recent music including definite elements of The Strokes. Their front man says, "just because I have my sunglasses in doesn't mean that I don't like to talk to people" but they could do with a little more interaction with the audience between songs. Although to be fair, it's always a little rough when you break a string without having a spare guitar. It's a pretty minor complaint though and their music sounds great and it deserves a touch more charisma.
Male Gaze, Slumb Party, Mass Datura and Table Scraps were at The Angel Microbrewery on Thursday 21 September 2017.
The next Fuzzbox night is at The Chameleon, 3 November 2017.
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