Drum Eyes w/ Damo Suzuki - Hoxton Bar & Grill 11/08/09

Drum Eyes change line-up every time I see them, and tonight, despite the absence of Trencher Liam on drums, was their best yet. Two drummers, two synthers, one guitar and Scotch Egg Shige alternating between bass, laptop and synth, they brewed up a psychedelic storm heavy enough to drench the busy bar and grill. There were times where it turned almost to grey soup but at their best they sounded like a heavier version of Goblin, which is a mean synth horror and no mean feat.

So then what happened in the break? When (most of) Drum Eyes returned to the stage to improv with Damo Suzuki it all started out very timidly as a slow, background ambience and went nowhere. Where did all the energy and verve go? And volume? It was weak. The last set had sounded frightening but this one just sounded frightened, like no one wanted to take the responsibility of picking the track up and running with it, no one wanted to grab Damo by the balls and say freak out to this Suzuki you old fuck. So there it was, old Damo waxing lame over some pretty uninspired drone muzak. I gave it about fifteen minutes and left feeling like I'd given it hours. Maybe they should lay off the spliff in the interval. Fuck knows.

Gang Gang Dance - Hoxton Bar and Grill 11/10/08

I don't know really, I guess these guys are ok. I mean the singer is a good performer and the band has a lot of energy and a nice vibe to their whole thing but there's something in this muddle of dance and psychedelia, pop and rock that doesn't sit right with me at all. It's all schizophrenic. For everything they do right, they do something wrong. The singer and the synth guy are exceptional, the guitarist and the other guy - the bassist or whatever - are unremarkable. For every infectiously groovy surprise, there's a dire tribal trance version of My Bloody Valentine.

I'm all for experimentation, but their style seems to me less 'musical discovery' and more 'chaotic whatever' and at the end of the day, it's tiring listening to a fucking mental yoyo.