Scene Report: Cardiff February 2007
By: Sofie Jenkinson
The new beginnings of a year can be a very strange time. They tend to be utterly dull and depressing, all tinged with grey. It is also the worst part of the year for most university students, turning ordinarily lively nooks and crannies of a city into complete ghost towns. It is my personal opinion that the Higher Education system conspires upon us all at this time of year, but that isn't really my point.
And so due to the nature of this now thankfully absent beast named January, leaving the warm glow of your living room, whether plastered in revision notes, lined with books or not, is a decision not taken lightly. It takes a lot to tempt even the most adventurous out into these deserted streets. It was lucky then, that many a cracking band made haste in this most depressing of months, to darken our doorstep. The most notable of them all being The Blood Brothers, brought to us by the inspired promoters Lesson No1. An emblazoned ball of bile, fronted up by Jordan Billie and Johnny Whitney turning the cosy top floor of Clwb Ifor Bach into convulsing mass, half flailing in an angry rage and half squirming with funked up dance steps, eventually leaving a shaking, sweating audience with a plethora questions on their lips.
As if this wasn't overload enough for every sensory receptor in the room, downstairs, in this many layered maze of a venue, local magazine Kruger were hosting a night of local delight. A mere two pieces of gold bought a transition from upper gigging level to lower. Support came in the form of the slightly mental and brilliant electronic Evils and cult classics Gindrinker, which as always needs to be heard to be believed and subsequently loved. Headlining this event...Space in the 50s (pictured above), playing their first gig. What with the trend of old ingenious Cardiff based bands re-hashing themselves into something equally as inspiring (see Future of the Left, Truckers of Husk etc) this phenomena is not something we are strangers to. Two thirds of the band having previously made up the hub of dirty grit peddlers The Martini Henry Rifles, their demise causing many a stifled high pitch cry of sorrow around the Capital (and in Japan.) Although rumours of said demise were just as quickly superseded by rumours of this new project - always amongst one of the brightest new bands floating around this city, they are as cut throat and as exciting as before with a real life drummer rather than the old drum machine, adding the power and the strength that lifts them all off the ground screaming. Put simply, painfully awesome.
Recently something exciting is bubbling away under the surface of Cardiff in this lighter hearted, inspiring and intensely short month of February. The local music community of South Wales explodes fantastically at various times but always in a controlled manner until it falls back asleep again, but this feels slightly different. Everything seems a little more possible, a little more cohesive and definitely a lot more magical. After a kick up the arse by the first Cardiff bands compilation in association with Twisted By Design last November things just keep getting more exciting. Along with the imminent release of Los Campesinos! first single 'We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives' (Feb 26th), Future of the Left, The Victorian English Gentlemen's Club and The Hot Puppies are all playing South By South West in March and another local music event in the pipeline, it's all happening. Although with the end of Booby Trap records we are one record label down a group of bright young things also from band Attack & Defend have just started their own under the guise of Shape Records - who knows what it will bring, but at least things are happening, really exciting things. Plus exams are over so watch out Cardiff... we're back!