Evacuees - The Louisiana, Friday 21st June

Bath based indie rock quartet Evacuees show tonight that melancholic anthems created by the once heralded 6 string instrument still have their place as they light up the Louie with the launch of their encouraging second EP.  After forming just 2 years ago the Evacuees have fought their way up the bill across the city thanks to support slots for Amplifier, Ultrasound and We Are Augustines and a well-received set at this year’s Dot-To-Dot festival. 

 

(Picture courtesy of Jackie Ong)

 

In sharp contrast to the twee radio-folk ballady balls that passes for rock music on our airwaves there are a couple of fast improving alternative bands coming through who are causing a real stir on the Bristol circuit at the moment.  Our headliner tonight is leading this local charge and with influences stretching from Nirvana, QOTSA, Thrice, Brand New and Radiohead they have a wide pallet of angsty genius to draw upon and the new EP has a more assured feel as they begin to find their sound.  The Evacuees’ imposing front-man Dean Bryant haunches over the mic like a devilish hyena, all in black, looking sufficiently sinister as he bears down on the audience.  But it’s an anti-climatic acoustic start to proceedings as the band suffers sound issues that clearly frustrate them.  The exasperated frontman waves his hands in disgust throughout the early stages –with a vocal range like his it’s not a great idea to make him angry.  Alex Grassi’s band A Life In Orange who went down as an entertaining support (thanks in no small part to their sensational drummer) lend Bryant a guitar and the band regroup and begin again.



Tonight’s set has a decent mix of edgy acoustic lo-fi and hurtling early-Radiohead anthems with a post-grunge feel.  Joe Daly’s chugging bass kicks off brooding beauty ‘Grounded’ alongside hypnotic Greenwood-esque guitar weavings before Bryant launches himself, neck sinews bulging into a Lemmy style blitz as he bellows “stand on the feet by which you’re blessed, don’t be counted among the rest.”  It’s a good marker for what follows as the band quickly make up lost ground and win over the punters.  Early Verve jamming next up on the upbeat bluesy ‘Miss Guided’ with a stirring scuzziness that has the audience hooked.  Metronomic drumming and a meandering bass create a less claustrophobic hook than before allowing the band to soar with some solid harmonies and a stadium bound chorus. 

 

Penultimate track ‘Da Vinci’ begins with bittersweet and fragile chimes with a soft husky vocal but quickly ascends into a belting chorus that leaves nothing left in the tank.  Definitely their best and most creative track it casts aside any doubts over the band’s ability to be original and reveals some promising shoots of songwriting potential.  New track ‘Delorean’ ends the night; a weighty slab of brooding granite with Bryant’s trademark throaty vocal howling “88 miles an hour couldn’t bring you back down.” The Evacuees owe a lot to the past but tonight’s set shows they’re only looking forward and not back to the future.

 

 

Kindly published by Venue:

http://www.venue.co.uk/music-live-reviews-e/20816-evacuees

 

Best Track: click through link below
Evacuees - 'Da Vinci'

Setlist:

1. The Briny
2. Papercut
3. Grounded
4. Clandestine
5. Rusted
6. Temper Temper
7. Miss Guided
8. Fight The Light
9. Da Vinci
10. Delorean

Poor Old Dogs - Beeses Tea Bar, Friday 7th June

Folk music can often be a bit on the dull side.  Earnest performers plugging along onstage backed by a polite violin in front of a placid crowd that offer little more than the odd nod or foot-tap.  Take a group of mates therefore who play for beer and a laugh with stomping songs about unscrupulous estate agents, nuisance neighbours and flasher milkmen and it’s hard not to taken in by their contagious enthusiasm for performing and mission to make audiences smile.

Bristol’s Poor Old Dogs arrive at Beeses fantastic riverside bar after a hectic gigging schedule in support of cracking second EP ‘Milkman’.  This mischievious band are led by charismatic frontman Jack Francis who appears on stage with flat-cap and dangling earring, a hint of Levellers ‘crusty’ and an unsettling/menacing Lydon-like stare.  Splitting their set into two, the first much less frantic, the quartet bring the crowd in from the garden with an upbeat cover of Richard Thompson’s masterpiece ‘Beeswing’.  ‘Betty Got My Coat Nicked’ has the locals grinning, she stole his Harris Tweed don’t you know? but now “she can bugger off, at least subconsciously.”  Jangling guitars meet a committed but off-key vocal to devastating effect. 

For the most part it’s wonderfully shambolic and perfect Friday night fare for those in search of high-octane hoe-downs.  The laugh-out-loud humour and quirky tales within the band’s growing catalogue shouldn’t distract from the fact that these guys are actually highly accomplished musicians.  Rory Smith effortlessly switches between bass and double-bass, driving the band on and keeping up well with the frantic pace.  Likewise, diminuitive Mandolin thrasher Laurie Cornwall is a dynamo throughout and a standout on punky ode to odd-bods ‘Designated Weirdo’.  Whenever they sail back into ‘conventional’ folk they show their versatility and knowledge of the genre’s chief protagonists with some well selected covers that keep the crowd transfixed.  A meaty ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ gets a hearty ovation, the band are pretty tight and clearly loving every minute.  Other highlights include ‘Immoral in Balmoral’ –a Dexy’s style amusing jaunt that asks “Can’t we just be friends, like the friends off Friends?”  Moving on and ‘Sick Of The Sight Of Your Face’ is furious fun as the enigmatic singer attacks his ex in good humour “your voice makes my skin crawl”. 

Saving the best until last, the band’s hilarious ‘Milkman’ is a massive hit that sees the audience deserting their pints for one final knees-up in what is surely the best ever song about the art of dairy delivery (sorry Ernie/Benny Hill).  In this instance however, we’re dealing with a man who likes to “feel the morning breeze blowing his bits about.”  With a keen beat, speedy strumming and a laddish chorus of “who’s the fucking milkman, he said I’m the fucking milkman” it’s not exactly profound but its undoubtedly entertaining stuff.  The Poor Old Dogs maybe completely barking but if you’re about in town and a big fan of folk with played with ferocity and fun then get over to see them.

Kindly published by Venue:
http://www.venue.co.uk/music-live-reviews-p/20753-poor-old-dogs

Best Track: Click on link below
Poor Old Dogs - 'Sick Of The Sight Of Your Face'

Available to buy:
http://poorolddogs.co.uk/music/