Promoted by
Dave Griffiths /
Fast Forward Promotions.
Disappointment was at a high level when the original date
for Brix & The Extricated at The Georgian was cancelled a few months ago.
But there was good reason for the cancellation and tonight’s show came around
quickly.
First up, The Filthy Tongues whose 2016 album Jacob’s Ladder
just happens to be one of my favourite purchases over the last year and has
been cited by a few as one of the albums of 2016.
Opening with 2014’s ‘Crew Cut’ – full of deep throbbing bass
overlaid with a guitar that builds between each verse to a perfect crescendo. A
gritty, dark tune that immediately makes you realise how glad you are to be
stood in front of this band. What follows is 40+ minutes of brooding, gothic
blues tinged songs dealing with the not so clean underbelly of Edinburgh’s dark
side. Hints of Nick Cave raise their head every so often but The Filthy Tongues
do things their way. “Here comes Danny rolling in smelling like a sewer. He
lost his leg injecting but he had a lot of fun.” sings Martin Metcalfe on ‘Long
Time Dead’ with it’s almost catchy Television guitar riffs. ‘High’, all brooding,
rumbling, repetitive drumbeat, deep bass and minimal guitar tells us about
dodgy dealers. ‘Bowhead Saint’ ups
the tempo a little with just a hint of organ creeping in. Feet start to move
and bodies start to sway despite it being anything but a joyful song. Sinister
and menacing are words more likely to spring to mind. ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ rumbles
along with that dark bass and creeping keys. “There was one man having another
as a feast”, “Halleluja from the top of a hill”. Martin Metcalfe (vocals &
guitar), Fin Wilson (bass) and Derek Kelley (drums) were once the core of
Goodbye Mr Mackenzie (that also featured Shirley Manson who went on to find fame
in Garbage) but these songs are a far cry from
those days of rocky pop although the rousing, danceable ‘Goodwill City’, a Goodbye Mr Mackenzie classic
from 1989, closes the set. Dark,
foreboding songs are the order of the day. Not only did The Filthy Tongues
release one of the best albums of recent years they’re also possibly one of the best
live acts you can see at the moment.
The Filthy Tongues return to Teesside on December 9
th
when they play Middlesbrough’s Westgarth Social Club. Following tonight’s performance
you’d be advised to buy yourself a ticket and get along there.
The Filthy Tongues -
website /
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| The Filthy Tongues |
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| The Filthy Tongues |
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| The Filthy Tongues |
I’ve never been a fan of The Fall. They played at my school
youth club’s ‘New Wave Night’ in 1979. I didn’t like them then. Though never
deliberately I’ve listened to them on and off for the last 38 years. Most of my
music mates love them. Not me.
But Brix & The Extricated are a different experience
altogether, despite consisting of four ex members of The Fall. Recently
released debut album, ‘Part 2’, is full of catchy, garage pop songs with real
attitude.
They open with Lay Of The Land, a Fall song from over 30
years ago that’s given a whole new sound by Brix Smith Start’s voice. This is
followed by a set that consists of most of ‘Part 2’. ‘Feeling Numb’, ‘Valentino’,
‘Moonrise Kingdom’, ‘Teflon’, ’Pneumatic Violet’, ‘Something To Lose’, ‘Damned
For eternity’, ‘LA’, ‘Hollywood’. That’s 9 of the 11 tracks delivered live
tonight. It’s a great performance. Songs full of catchy hooks, melodic yet raw
punky pop. Smith puts everything she’s got into every song. Snarling, smiling,
pounding round the stage, giving the six strings of her Rickenbacker hell as,
together with other ex-Fall members Stephen & Paul Hanley (bass &
drums) and Steve Trafford (guitar) plus Jason Brown (guitar) we’re treated to
driving rhythms, jangly guitars, post punk and a voice that thankfully never
descends into incoherent slurs. Some of these songs are covers of old Fall
songs – ‘Feeling Numb’, ‘LA’, ‘Deadbeat Descendent’, ‘US 80’s 90’s’ together
with encores ‘Totally Wired’and 'New Big Prinz'. Done without MES they’re so much better. More
focussed, more anger, more energy, more power, more noise, more enjoyment. This
is a band that knows where they’ve come from and probably knows what’s going to
happen next. Something that I doubt happened in their previous incarnation.
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| Brix & The Extricated |
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| Brix & The Extricated |
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