Woodland - Sat Aug 20
A modestly-sized yet enthusiastic crowd get behind the launch of The Submariners’ EP Don’t Chase Her, as psychedelic visuals pepper Woodland’s backdrop of old landscape paintings throughout the evening. First up, Old Growth Cola combine some interesting musical elements – acoustic guitar, bass and drums as per your common-or-garden folk-rock trio, but the quintet instead get in touch with their inner Spacemen 3 through a lead guitarist who doesn’t play so much as he coaxes all manner of deep space skree from his six string, and a chap manning a table of effects pedals and other sonic manipulation gizmos. Blended with slightly Clinic-esque lead vocals, the band (formed in September of last year) frequently intrigue, though on occasion it does feel like the psych-noise elements are controlling them and not the other way around.
An amiable shirtless drummer, a lead guitarist who looks like a young Tom Verlaine, a straw-haired ‘n slight-set violinist, a roving long-haired bassist with a Three Musketeers mo’ and a Rory Gallagher look-alike frontman, Lunch Tapes certainly sound more cohesive as a unit than they look! Beefy psychedelic/garage riffs and catchy melodies provide the backbone of their immensely enjoyable set. Singer/guitarist Joel Chant has a low-key charisma as a frontman while bassist Tobias Sargent’s choice to occasionally strut through the crowd is fun and refreshingly un-self conscious.
Finally, three-piece The Submariners bring the live entertainment to a close and for this reviewer, it takes some time to come to grips with their somewhat genre-hopping, CD collection-emulating approach – doomy Joy Division rockers, almost theatrical doowop elements and straight-out indie-pop make it difficult to get a grip on the band’s identity. However, I get it more as the set progresses and an encouraging amount of pearlers are revealed. At their best when performing more slow-burning numbers, frontman Nicholas has great stage presence, like a louche, self-aware Dave Vanian with a Phil Oakey haircut and sharp suit. There’s also a visible and comfortable rapport between him and supremely confident bassist/backing singer Siena. I’m intrigued to see and hear more…
MATT THROWER
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