Pontiak & White Hills – Engine Rooms, Brighton – 6/3/10
3/5
By: Keri Kennedy
For some bands, the whole punk thing never happened. There are those that continue in the vein of Vicious, Strummer et al, trying to raise anger amongst and audience, to provoke them into action. Then you get groups like Pontiak and White Hills, for whom rock stopped with Hawkwind, or, at a push, Motorhead. They make a noise so far out of fashion (White Hills take to the stage in black leather catsuits with faces painted gold) that it’s pretty much come full circle.
Sure, there are people in the audience (and support band) with waist-length dreadlocks (this is Brighton after all), but this loud, well, metal, has become fashionable once more. And if you’re only going to catch two strung-out acts who seek bliss through riffage this year, this double header of a tour is the one to catch. Pontiak perhaps offer the thinking man more; three bearded brothers whose recent Sea Voids album is a must for those craving stop-start artrock dynamics applied to ‘classic’ hard rock. ‘Suzerain’ cements this, hands sliding up the fretboards to nothing, before syncopated drums rescue the song over and over again. There are only about ten effects pedals onstage tonight, and apparently this is ‘pared down’.
White Hills take a more sledgehammer approach to both their style and sound. The aforementioned catsuit is worn by bassist Ego Sensation (seriously), who plays one of those clear bass guitars popular in the 1970s. Frontman Dave W has the golden face, and you suspect he has worn a cape at some point – if not numerous points – in his life. The music, much like say, Acid Mother’s Temple, wears you down, circling around basslines or drum patterns until it has drilled into your skull, with subtle chord changes the only respite. We get tracks from 2009’s Dead and Heads On Fire tonight, as well as a smattering from their eponymous newbie, and if you were asking what the difference was, I’d be hard pushed to discern.
But it works, and these are (both) bands hell bent on doing what they want. There’s no styling, no regard for what’s ‘on trend’, and no compromise. Pontiak and White Hills need applauding for that. Whoever booked them a tour together is a genius.
Artists in this article: Pontiak, White Hills
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