Contributo "internazionale" alla causa di Retrophobic, Dom Gourlay (del prestigioso magazine Drowned In Sound UK) ci invia il suo resoconto della serata per il lancio di Revolution In Sound ", la nuovissima compilation dei nostri amici della Northern Star Records di Londra. Le foto sono nell'articolo sono di Wayne Fox. Buona lettura!

THE NOVA SAINTS/KONTAKTE/MINT IVE
Northern Star Records’ ‘Revolution In Sound’ Album Launch
@ Sound of Confusion, Birmingham
Saturday 8th August

Birmingham may be England’s second biggest city, but as far as musical legacies are concerned it remains leagues behind some of its intimate cousins like Bristol, Leeds and Sheffield. The Twang anyone? Thought not, yet on the flipside it has a thriving scene courtesy of club nights at places like Snobs and The Victoria run by the likes of Trash Menagerie and the latest instalment of possibly the Midlands best-kept secret, shoegaze tinged night Sound Of Confusion.

That its named after a Spacemen 3 song proves quite apt this evening, as former members of Rugby’s finest combo are spotted early on, no doubt here to witness the germination of their own seeds from two decades previous. Tonight’s line-up, curated by London-based indie Northern Star Records to promote forthcoming compilation ‘Revolution In Sound’, acts as a showcase for three of the UK’s most diverse acts to emerge from the post-millennium take on the genre; united under the same umbrella they may be, but musically and sonically worlds apart.

Nottingham’s Mint Ive for example whip up an unholy noise, guitarist Oliver Chetty’s pedal board taking up pretty much the entire left side of the stage. Deceptively loud they may be, but underneath the tremelo washed reams of noise and pounding rhythms are melodic, instinctive (dare I say it) pop songs with choruses and verses, something not normally associated with the shoegaze phenomenon. ‘Paint A Picture (Of The Broken Hearts)’ and ‘To No Avail’ both recall a slightly more acerbic Chameleons while rumbling set closer ‘Bad Lines’ reinvents their sound completely at the death, Germanic street preachers to a man.

London four-piece Kontakte follow suit, and despite the lack of a drummer or vocalist, combine to play incisive post-rock that takes on a ferocious twist towards the final third. Sure, there are echoes of Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky here, but the quasi-electronic interludes, looping basslines and overlapping guitar segments offer a more distinctive experimental touch, and while there’s a feeling at the minute that instrumental rock of a fast/slow-quiet/loud nature may have jumped the shark sometime around 2008, Kontakte sustain an intuitive freshness throughout their performance.

Headline act Nova Saints have the hardest task of the evening in following what has gone before, and although technical problems mar the first part of their set, ambitious Hammond-led epic ‘The Loop’ transforms them mid-set into the cataclysmic psyche rockers their early demos suggested they had the potential to become.

Overall, in front of a deliriously enthusiastic audience, tonight has been an unmitigated success that firmly demonstrates the UK’s underground guitar scene is in fine fettle. Viva La Revolution!

Dom Gourlay

Pix by Wayne Fox

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