White Rose Movement + Ulterior + Romance @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath – 28th May 2009
White Rose Movement shot to the forefront of indie scene back in 2006 upon the release of their debut album, Kick. Since then, it’s all gone a little bit quiet.
That’s not the only thing that’s quiet, only a handful of people arrive to catch the first support and I can’t help but think they missed a bit of a treat.
First support are Romance, a well suited support from London. Despite complaining about his vocals, front man, Lovatt’s unique voice compliments the bands dark, post-punk influences, most noticeably on “Picture Frame” and “The Art Of Losing”. Exciting to watch, a great start to the evening.
After a reassuring start, Ulterior followed and knocked me off my “I already know what to expect” chair. A hazy mix of electronics, rock and post-punk was perhaps a less obvious choice of support but certainly added an interesting variation to the evening.
Frontman, Honey’s cocky attitude is impossible to ignore, staring coldly out into the eyes of the small group of people that came out to see them. Honey incorperates everything you’d expect from a band that combine the honesty and defiance of a band that lists influences such as The Cure and The Smiths.
“Weapons” is a well structured, but dirty looping rhythm which goes down well with the crowed before a thankful Ulterior leave the stage.
Ulterior didn’t really make much sense to me (as support), until White Rose Movement took to the stage, armed with a play list of new material.
It’s been three years since the release of “Kick” and two years since I last saw them play at Barfly. We spoke to Jasper before the gig who admitted “it’s taken f***ing ages for us to put the new record together.”
WRM were keen to share what’s been taking so long, opening on “Heywood” — we were treated to eleven new tracks from the forthcoming (currently untitled) album. By hearing the new tracks live — it seemed the new record is based more around an indie/rock sound than “Kick”, but this might just be for the live shows.
Most noticeable of the new tracks were “Cigarette Machine”, “SATWR”, “Little Menace”, and the droning “Candle Flame” which features new member, Poppy, on vocals.
Of course, the band threw in a few “old” favourites which included, London’s Mine, Idiot Drugs, before finishing the set on Alsatian, which (after not hearing it for months/years) sounded fantastic live!
The band have released a limited edition vinyl which is only available online or at gigs which includes the single SATWR, Cigarette Machine and Candle Flame, however, there is still no release date for the forthcoming album.
TRACKLISTING
Heywood
London’s Mine
Fever
Little Menace
GITB
Stairs
Idiot Drugs
Way Of The Swans
LIAN
Cigarette Machine
Apple Eyes
SATWR
______________
Candle Flame
Alsatian
Review & Photos – Chris Barber