Against The Wheel + 2nd Side Made + Shebrew @ Hare & Hounds, 28th July 2011

The thing that most aptly summed up this evening’s three band soirée came from final act Against The Wheel’s bassist, Jeff Gowen, who name-checked 2nd Side Made and in particular shebrew, ‘Who were pretty fucking amazing!’ And indeed with his generosity being an inter-band camaraderie default setting so often seen at The Hare we need to see why he was spot on. But firstly, Midlands band, 2nd Side Made.

With fuzz and distortion being expressed to excess both in terms of rampant hair abandon and foot-pedal effects subtlety brought to us by ‘Deep-sea divers’ lead boots R’ Us’ what was not to like? No trenchant de-constructional cross-grenre analysis required here. It wasPost-Thrash/Grunge slacker-buddy banter bonhomie all through the set. Loud, manic mayhem from grown-up men who don’t want to know better. Their deference to many things CKY, US alt.metalers, is a matter of pride. Their drummer, Tristan ‘Bedlam’ Bedlow must have been conceived in the foundry of the Titan’s blacksmith, Hephaestus. No mortal man should possess these powers! They’re touring their eponymous ep featuring ‘Empty Symptom’ that, with any justice in the world, should blow their contemporaries and mosh-pit cider-caners into head-banger Valhalla.

Shebrew’s brief, five song set, certainly made ears prick up on this sultry evening. A Brum based three-piece in possession of so much hair and slightly other-worldly detachment that I had 60s flash backs to The Fugs and the gatefold photo of the Magic Band on Trout Mask Replica. Always a promising sign. The set introed with an eviscerated bastard blues riff that segued into ‘Urethane’ setting the mood for the night – that mood being akin to the anguished howls of a Decepticon Transformer pissing barbed-wire. Innovative, psychedelic groovy pedal effects from vocals/guitar, Francis Anthony, played a significant part in the instrumental construct of their songs. Facebook references their milieu to metal/stoner/doom but surely there’s a celebratory homage to Secret Machines and Black Rebel MC going on here.

The droning, incessant, bowel-trembling drum & bass assault and tractor-tread chord clusters are all there. There was a barely contained ferocity that seethed throughout the mid-set instrumental that climaxed with a raging anger one can only hope was dedicated to the prospect of seeing the Murdoch mafia being cast into a bottomless pit full of snake-shit. Art and anger combined as one. Closing song, ambiguously titled ‘Babylon’ sort of clinched the evening, more so because it showed their (slighlty!) tender side with its minimalist boogie beat and just a smidgin riff of ‘Spirit In The Sky’. Francis Anthony is having only the briefest of applause and it seems in no way an affectation. Plot this band on your Radar. The blip will blind your eyes.

Setlist: Intro/Urethane, Twist of Fate, Instrumental, Reptilian, Year of Blood, Babylon.

To be fair, last act, Against The Wheel had had their thunder compromised by the previous band and were ever gracious with it even though quite a few punters had drifted away during the break. They blitz opened their set with grievous intent and frantic mongrel guitar thrash mash of post-Punk/New Wave energy and epileptic energised damn fine Heavy Rock. But damned if I didn’t get a text calling away so I couldn’t stay for the whole set. So I really want to see the band full on to do them proper justice. Keep BrumLive posted, guys. Thanks from BL to Leila & Jase for guest-list/Paul on lights ‘n sound.

Setlist: Without You, Trading, Sink Like A Stone, Help In Strange Places, Breath, Bones, Reminder, Outaline, It’s All Yours.

Review – John Kennedy
Photos – Ian Dunn

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