Gig Reviews

There's plenty of musical talent to be had at in Leeds at the minute: Pulled Apart By Horses have gone global (or at least national), Grammatics have followed suit. But if this has created a vacuum somewhere then it’s been filled pretty quickly, and this evening at the library is an illustration of the fact that you can’t turn around in Hyde Park at the moment without catching a good gig.

Although the purpose of this particular evening's entertainment is to celebrate the release of Chickenhawk's new video and EP, it doesn't stop the support bands having a jolly good stab at stealing the show.

Opening are Blacklisters, a criminally-ignored outfit in my humble opinion. They have been dismissed by some as a poor man's Jesus Lizard, and to be fair, the comparison to the forefathers of noise rock is not without reason. They do have a distinct whiff of them but nothing about Blacklisters is second rate.

In fact, they have a firm grasp on the keys to the tunes cupboard.  They make the kind of music you feel with your gut, big and brash and impossible to ignore. Billy's vocals sound like the noise you'd make as you were being dragged away to the nuthouse by your hair, to the backdrop of guitars being murdered by feedback. The stage show has a similarly deranged feel and so, if that sounds like your cup of tea then seriously, check them out - you won't be disappointed.

These Monsters

Next up were These Monsters - living up to their name, they are founded on the principle that it is right and noble to build a song around a monstrous, chugging riff. Of course the term 'riff' is a cliché used liberally in music journalism, but in this case I am at a loss as what to use instead.

They worship their guitars, so they make music accordingly - with it dominating the song in the way Black Sabbath taught us and it's pretty heady stuff. A nice moment transpires when Billy from Blacklisters and Leemun from Castrovalva jump on stage to provide extra vocals. They are not known for their similar vocal stylings so it all goes a bit ebony and ivory for a few minutes, but it's so nice and ingenuous, that it actually comes across really well, almost like a little LS6 group hug.

Natalie Kaye saw Blacklisters and These Monsters at The Library on Friday 4 September 2009.