From the bewildered looks on the faces of the audience, it’s clear that many weren’t ready for the aural molestation of Bathwater – a Bury St. Edmunds-based drone ‘n’ bass duo who combine some deep down-tuned bass in the vein of Sunn O))) with doom-like rhythm incursions. They’re loud – loud enough to have you running to the nearest toilet – and they are fucking brilliant. Comprising members of The Khe Sanh Approach and The People’s Choice, the bass, drums and laptop-led two-piece settle into some dark grooves whilst obscure noise and dubstep samples play at the edges. It’s difficult to understand, but it manages to consume you wholly, satisfying the primal rock need. Bury needs Bathwater: too long has stagnant indie-rock took precedence over experimentalism, and it’s about time a band came along that promise no bullshit and all full-frontal bombast in their live set.
Ten City Nation are an intriguing prospect. To those in the audience for their live debut, they are something of a super-group, featuring members past and present of Miss Black America (Mike and Neil, Seymour) and the vocalist of popular local punk types The Heroics. By the time they’ve finished their opening song, ‘prospect’ is meaningless - smashed apart by the imposing edifice of vehement rock and roll; forgotten in the hazy memory of a thrashing three-chord punk rock explosion. Like The Stooges before them, Ten City Nation have amazing presence - vocalist Dan Rooker commands the stage, flailing around and dancing to a Mclusky-like noise while the rest play with the intent of a band that have been together for years. The songs need some work escaping the usual garage-rock clichés, but Ten City Nation look as if they mean business.
The night’s headliners – London-based guitar and drums duo The Bleeps (pictured) – receive a lot of love from the crowd, and it’s not hard to see why. Bursting on to the stage with their frenetic style of quick-pace art-rock, The Bleeps deliver a set which is musically tight but theatrically wild (a great compromise, non?). Their music isn’t anything new – they’re not too dissimilar to every other quirky indie act at the moment – but if the quality of tonight’s performance is the requisite for this band, then you’re in for a good time.
The Bleeps live photo taken from their MySpace.
