Boddickers
My first encounter with Boddickers was less than a week ago - on Saturday night at Ruby Lounge. They played after one of my favourite Manchester bands of the moment, Purge.
I'd never even heard of them before, so I didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know what genre they were. As it turns out they are exactly the kind of music I love (which is lucky!)
Melodic, haunting intros that grow, ebb and flow. The music builds, and builds in layers and then, when you expect it all to come crashing down… it builds some more. The moment you stop waiting for it to 'drop'… my god, does it drop. During the most blisteringly heavy bits I had an absolutely huge smile on my face.
The music fills the room and there are so many different elements to it that it's hard to believe it's made by just three people, and three instruments.
During the set, the singer's style was mostly coarse and occasionally aggressive. At one point another singer came on to provide some cleaner vocals which was a really interesting contrast. However, the title track on the EP (Circadian) is also quite clean - the singing wanders with the music, rising and falling, with moments of real power. I have recently been informed that these vocals are provided by the main singer (after assuming it was the other one). When you consider that the main singer plays guitar as well, that's damn impressive.
Listening to their EP now (Circadian, you can stream and download it for free here) something feels lost. It's a great record, but doesn't quite recreate the atmosphere of seeing these fantastic lads live. It doesn't produce the same tingling in my belly. Perhaps, when I've finished this review, I'll listen to it again... LOUDER.
You can bet your knickers I'll be keeping a very, very keen eye on these guys.