Mothertrucker @ Wagon & Horses, Birmingham – Saturday 14th September, 2013
I wish I could say I saw all the bands at Grammatical Records‘ two stage/one pub mini-fest. I wish I could tell you how Those Amongst Us Are Wolves, Sunrise Over Europe, Tales, Cal Banda, Black Veins, IO, Karhide and Arbour Lights performed. But I can’t. Bad. Lazy. Naughty. Half-arsed gig reviewer that I am, I only turned up for headline act Mothertrucker.
If you don’t know Mothertrucker then you don’t know s**t. A stalwart of Birmingham’s underground metal scene. Riff heavy, hard hitting, vocal-free stoner metal at its finest. A great band. If there was any justice in the world these guys would be selling millions and playing packed out stadium tours whilst Justin was entertaining roughly fifty Beliebers in the upstairs of the Wagon & Horses, Digbeth. But there isn’t…
Tonight’s performance was duly top class. Excellent, drunk, menacing fun. An album release party of proper proportions. Trucker blasted through track after track of ‘The Power of Independent Trucking’. As tight as a nun’s chuff. As crushing as a cancer diagnosis. As climactic as a big fat orgasm. The partisan crowd lapped it up. Drummer B. Goodenough and rhythm guitarist C. Butler swapping roles numerous times to demonstrate a depth of talent not seen since…….Phil Collins???
If you like your metal reverb-tastic, psychedelic and challenging, you’d have liked this. If you like bands too fucking cool to even face you whilst they’re playing, you’d have liked this. I dunno who you’d think they sound similar to. Try Kyuss, Slint, Pelican, Shellac, Colour Haze, Isis, Mogwai, etc. Better still, go to their Bandcamp and have a good old listen. Better still, buy one of their nice coloured vinyl LPs and immerse yourself.
Review by Alex Dean