London
29 January 2014
The London post-rock/math-rock (or as I prefer to say, maths rock) scene is a small but devoted one, so when local purveyors of big chiming epics 52 Commercial Road need to pay for the album they’ve just recorded, Communion, with a benefit gig in Dalston’s tiny Power Lunches, it’s hardly any surprise that they’re playing to a full and appreciative house. The entry fee is scaleable, with everyone getting a free sampler CD of all the bands on the bill, and those paying a bit more can walk away with albums, T-shirts and the like. It’s kind of like a Kickstarter for when you’ve already ridden off down the road, only with instant gratification for the donors who already have the product and now get to see a bunch of bands too. It’s an interesting model, and one that seems to work alarmingly well if, like these guys, you have a supportive enough fan base.
Not only are there four bands on the bill, but during the early part of the night there are two guys, Krom and Joe Fur, painting pictures by the stage as the music plays, which is a marvel in itself given how much elbow room they have once the crowds arrive.The first band on stage are Spring Goddess, who start off as pleasant enough pop-punk and have me scratching my head a bit as to how they fit into the whole vibe. Then they take a sharp and angular detour and all hell breaks loose, musically speaking. They alternate between sounding like a lost classic post-punk band from 1979 and a Dillinger Escape Plan from a parallel universe where they were British and brought up on Wire rather than Americans raised on metal. And they keep namechecking Charles Dance, which is… well, it’s certainly something that happens, and the combined effect is rather excellent.
Next up are He Was Eaten By Owls, who have changed a lot since their days as nowiseebeesiwon, though the core components of acoustic guitar and drums still remain in place. Now, thanks to an array of effects and loops, they’re a far more instrumental and oceanic affair. Frontman El uses his guitar like a paintbrush, but not in any old clichéd sense of creating pictures in sound, nor bloody soundscapes or any of that nonsense. No, it’s more like when you run your thumb over the tip of the brush and a fine spray of colour comes off, seemingly random and unconnected notes flying in all directions, only to miraculously coalesce into melodies somewhere in the air. It’s a fine trick, and it’s impossible to tell how he does it, but it works, so who really gives a shit? Delicate melodies crowdsurf on punishing and intricate rhythms in time signatures so arcane they’re positively Lovecraftian. Fantastic stuff.Triumphant post-rock is a thing, apparently. I didn’t know this, but it is. And Waking Aida do that thing pretty damn well. Imagine Godspeed without the sinister bits, or a happy Swans with shorter songs that start at the end. Doesn’t seem like a great idea, to be honest, but then neither does taking a lift up a mountain until you actually see the view and it’s glorious. Crescendo follows crescendo and it’s all kind of overwhelming, a bit like eating a big bag of sweets in one go or listening to too much Anamanaguchi before the day’s first coffee, only with less tooth damage or bleepy hooks. Much as I hate to admit it, if someone asked me to categorise them, I’d say “triumphant post-rock” even if I didn’t know that was a thing. And yeah, they certainly triumph tonight, if you can see what I did there.
The stage, which has always been tiny, suddenly seems almost nanomolecular as 52 Commercial Road fill it with their epic take on the post-rock ideal. And they do EVERYTHING. They’re MASSIVE. Not physically, though it’s hard to tell, as this scene really does seem to attract more than its fair share of really tall people; and in a room with a low ceiling like this one, things just get further confused. But after a while it’s like the ceiling and walls just aren’t there anymore and the stage isn’t even a consideration. Everyone is borne aloft on a wave of sound so glorious we might as well be outside, except with the added advantage that it isn’t raining in here. They make the money they need for the album costs, and by Christ do they earn it. And the best part? Nobody seems to feel short-changed.-Justin Farrington-
