MOOD SWINGS continued: Level 230th April 2000NIKITANikita are one of the most well established outfits in the city. Their sound is a combination of the genres of grunge, new wave punk, their own musical flair, and a sense of humour as well as being a nice bunch of lads. After having seen them a couple of years ago at the Peterborough Arts Centre, and then in a sweaty gig at The Crown, I think things have changed a bit, evident in their performance at Moodswings.(Buy The Hexx 002 for £1 from 18 Frognall, Deeping St James, Peterborough PE6 8RR to read a full page article about Nikita) HIRAMEKA HI-FII'd heard of Moodswings' third artistes to be showcased, Colchester's Hirameka Hi-Fi, a couple of years ago, after being impressed by their 7" release on Gringo Records, "No Pictures"/"Hold It Up". They are now a three piece, consisting of Tom Coogan - guitar/vox, Ben Wright - drums, and new addition, Peter Heddle - bass. Anyway, they opened with an instrumental delicacy that El Hombre Trajeado would be proud of; it lifted the audience up, floated them around the moon for a bit and then brought them back down to earth. They broke a guitar string, which didn't matter. The remainder of the set contained Mogwai-esque scrapings and healthy portions of their youthful, raw thrash, concluding with an extravagant finale that doubled the length of their whole set - nice! (W.F.)REYNOLDSHirameka's labelmates Reynolds are noisy bastards! After returning to the auditorium after taking a quick piss, I was not fully concentrating and nearly jumped out of my skin when their set began. Many of their songs seem mellow from the onset, but then a carefully planned surprise attack occurs, with bursts of spasmic shouting, leaving shrapnel all over the place. As an onlooker, the vocalist seemed nervous and would recommend him to speak with more phonetic precision and at a more accessible pace, as due to this one of their songs was introduced as "Shishashafisk", when I'm sure it had a more sensible title really. This tune was as lengthy as it was wonderful, displaying tender harmonies, which exploded into crunching, cranking guitars and vocals. Their drummer was wearing a SPAM T-shirt, which was also a plus point. (W.F.)PHOBIA 4000The sound problems that seemed to be occurring at the beginning were excused by the vocalist (who was dressed as a waiter) asking the crowd, 'Does anyone want any super skunk?' which was in response to some Holland related banter. Phobia 4000 look like, and act like, Add N To (X), and sound like the impact Mark E Smith would have on Bis, if he were a member. They treated us to some interesting samples that were ingrained in their gritty, quirky tunes. The female vocalist not only used a cherry red microphone, but also further demonstrated her versatility by including some tambourine nonsense in her performance. Good unclean fun! (W.F.)THE DANDYSI'd seen The Dandys twice before, firstly supporting Shed Seven and then at Reading Festival. At the time I was very impressed and I hadn't been that impressed with a support band since I saw The Longpigs play in '96. The opening track from The Dandys tonight was a bit MOR and the second too thrashy. Having got this far into their set I had now realised that they're a bit unoriginal. However it did pick up a little from there though and the last three numbers had the audience well and truly engrossed. As the set finished a friendly bloke came to me to tell me that The Dandys deserve more credit than they get. Fair point, however he was then spotted playing on a pop-quiz machine with the band, so he must have been their roady or something. As I said to my mate next to me, 'That's the only time you'll see The Dandys play on Top Of The Pops!' (R.W.)SEAFOOD Certainly one of the Coup de Moodswings was having Seafood grace the stage. It was the scheduled time of 9pm when they entered the fray. Seafood have a female drummer, which gives them extra brownie points without even turning an amp on. In all honesty, the last thing these guys need is a head start as their performance was the high point of a superb festival. They are melodic, sonic and downright platonic. They treated the crowd to tunes such as the elegant "House On A Lake", their seventh and current single "Led By Bison" and the pacey "This Is Not An Exit." When they played "Belt", one of their recent delights, it amplified what a truly magnificent song it is, and proved that their live portrayal is as impacting as the recording, something many bands find difficult to achieve. They were more than sufficient recompense for the absence of Billy Mahonie. (W.F.)TWINKIEUnfortunately it was me who drew the short straw and got to review Twinkie for tonight, not that Twinkie are a bad band, because they're definitely not, far from it in fact, it was that small matter of having to review the headline band in a pissed up state. It's a difficult task to put pen to paper when you've had more than your fair share of lager and spirits and god knows what else, but it's even harder to remember what the fuck happened at all. So Twinkie I apologise for messing up your chances of five minutes of fame in The Hexx 002. Oh yeah, and I apologise to that girl for spilling beer all over her new bag, or something like that. Anyway, Twinkie are good... yeah... very good. (M.J.)The Hexx 002 |