#alloy ark

[shy-girl04]

[jungleindierock]

Alloy Ark - Blue

Alloy Ark - All I Want

 Alloy Ark - Did She Tell You

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alloy-Ark/160498134570

[b-sidemusic]

LIVE REVIEW: THE KABEEDIES / ALLOY ARK / THE SOFT / MOUSE-DRAWN CART - WASHING MACHINE @ THE LP, BURY ST EDMUNDS, SATURDAY 18TH FEBRUARY 2012

A one man techno punk act is a challenging notion, but Mouse-Drawn Cart (aka Bury-based musician Dave Jago) has a Transformers logo on his guitar, and Transformers are cool. The music, however, is not so cool: A dark distorted mess of mad-eyed braggadocio, synthesizers, simple guitar chords and licks, and a lack of discernable lyrics. Not wanting to let first impressions ruin my enjoyment of his set, I persevere.  The subsequent songs, although containing fewer techno elements, are very similar: Messy and indefinable and, yes, very punk, but not great to listen to.  Mouse-Drawn Cart’s punk rock element is admirable, but without a full band his set lacks the energy that makes punk worth watching and fails to win over the crowd. By the third song, the music is almost a chore to listen to.  The punk passion of Gallows crossed with the cocky swagger of Russell Brand rolled into one man would be a difficult idea for anyone to pull off and in this case, Dave Jago doesn’t quite manage.

The Soft’s dark synth overtures immediately bring you back down from Mouse-Drawn Cart’s mass of adrenaline. The mix of sounds, tones and beats are not only hypnotic but fascinating – with electronic music there is so much potential to fail yet, as shown by the masses of enthusiasm surrounding the band and their recent offers of support slots for much larger bands, they effortlessly reach the heights they intended to reach. Tonight the only thing that makes the audience (momentarily) look away is the sound of breaking glass from the bar. The pulsing beats eventually settle for the (ahem) soft vocals which perfectly compliment the band’s overall sound. As the set ends the crowd look almost as if they’re emerging from a trance, and the discussion all around immediately turns to how The Soft’s mix of styles and influences all work so well together.

Despite struggling against a bad sound, Alloy Ark show clear potential; yet from the start singer Dani Apadoo, although very talented, evokes a love/hate reaction from much of the crowd (strangely the dislike seems to come largely from the younger audience members). The band are tight, accomplished musicians – props especially to their drummer (sadly, the internet won’t tell me his name) – but at no point does anything stand out as amazing which, although not always important, does make you question the potential of the band in a “Wow, I’ve never heard this before” sense. Alloy Ark aren’t bad, but they aren’t incredible either; and sadly sometimes a mediocre set is less memorable than a bad one.

From the reaction as they take to the stage, the crowd are clearly here for indie sensations The Kabeedies.  The live sound is great from the start and the music is fantastic (and eerily close to the recorded versions of the songs). To make things even better, the banter between the band members and the audience immediately gets the crowd on their side, especially when combined with the on-stage dancing amongst the members. It is incredibly hard to describe how much energy this band give out throughout the set; they clearly aren’t afraid of what anyone might think, but with talented singers Katie and Evan at the helm they’ll always be unlikely to get a bad reception. The vocal harmonies and interplay make the band appear very versatile, which is only supported by Roary’s bass and Evan’s guitar; the bass in particular is far from simple, at once compensating for a lack of second guitar whilst setting up separate melodies within the songs. The best way to describe this band is “explosive”. 

Tonight The Kabeedies simply grab the audience and refuse to let go. The set list (which focuses mostly on new album Soap) is well chosen – their X-Box advert crossover hit Come On is saved for last – and despite the serious lack of dancing from the crowd, most of the audience are at least tapping their feet. On tonight’s evidence, their powers of persuasion may be the only thing the band could improve on.

  Words: Dom Clarke

Photo: The Kabeedies live at Washing Machine by Kate Quigley

LINKS: www.facebook.com/thekabeedies www.soundcloud.com/alloyark www.soundcloud.com/thesoft www.facebook.com/mousedrawn

[norwichmusic]

Gig- Gravy and BIYL presents New Years Eve Eve - Karma Kafe - 30.12.2011 - £4

On Friday 30th, the day before New Years Eve feat. Covergirl, Brothergang, Alloy Ark, Girl in a Thunderbolt, Solko, Jack Evison, Axel Loughrey + more!

Buy tickets / Fbook Event