news 'zine e-zine  contact links home

 

Ampersand/Resonate/Mad Library/Nixon and the Burn

The Cavern, Exeter - 13/9/04

There was no wine...

I still think Ampersand sound like the Mars Volta, just less epic and not quite so flamboyant. The music is a proggy hardcore noise which is at its best when it is instrumental, largely because the vocals are far from great, and shows signs of being really, very good at times. If anything the songs are actually too short, music like this needs to build and wash over you, too often Ampersand sound like they stop the ong just as it was getting good. The last two songs, especially the wall of noise crescendo of their set closer, show that this band can play some of the most excellent music you're likely to hear, they just don't all the time.
8 out of 10



Ohmyfuckinggod Resonate are fantastic. They play hardcore rock of such an accomplished standard it's impossible to believe they are so young. The music is excellent in every way (though I'd like to hear even more screaming from the drummer if his vocal chords can stand the strain), they are energetic and engaging and seem to be gaining confidence with every gig they play. Resonate are one of the leading lights of the Exeter scene and are brimming with potential to be something absolutely huge. I mean it. You wait and see.
9 out of 10




This was Mad Library's last gig for a while. Which is saddening. They made it a memorable goodbye too with some nice renditions of some of their best music. It wasn't perfect, technically or otherwise, but was still head and shoulders over most other bands around at the moment and by far the best acid-jazz-funk-soul-groovery you're likely to have heard in a long, long time and this will have been the last chance you'll have had in a fair while too. So more the fool you if you missed them. They will be sadly missed.
9 out of 10




Nixon and the Burn play a very polished kind of garage rock'n'roll which wouldn't sound out of place supporting a band like Franz Ferdinand. Which isn't necessarily an insult. They have a pop sensibility which makes the music quite catchy and dancy, but this is balanced out quite nicely by their more abrasive edge. When this heavier side of their music is more prevalent they sound really good, the rest of the time they're just quite good. But that probably depends on personal preferance.
7 out of 10 mofo