Back to Leeds for Day 2 of this year's STRANGEFORMS FEST, and the day on which the clumsy text editing in the image below becomes significant.
If you read the previous post, you might recall that I said that I didn't hate anything from the Saturday line-up. You did? Well...
VENUE:
BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, LEEDSLine-up:
SLOW LORIS: Local alt-rock foursome. Noisy and a lot of fun.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/53GYcj9LMh4 https://www.facebook.com/SlowLorisUK
ALLORA: A pleasant surprise. EXIT CHILD had to pull out, so ALLORA stepped in at the last minute, and very good they are too. Sturdy alt-rock/dark pop with glorious vocal harmonies. So good I bought the record.
VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/182GNgS5uWk https://www.facebook.com/alloraleeds
JAGUAR THRONE: And then there was JAGUAR THRONE. A new band, very few gigs played, apparently. I try not to be negative about bands, but I can find little positive to say about these lads. Decent musicians, I suppose, but dreadful, unsubtle and lumpen heavy metal. There's no video, because I couldn't listen to them long enough to make one. Sorry.
https://www.facebook.com/jaguarthrone
IRK: Local noise rock trio of the best kind. Quality musicianship, unhinged songs and a shirt of a style rarely seen outside of a bar in Tenerife. The decoy setlist would have us believe that ALL of the songs are called 'Going Away To College By Blink 182'. They're not.
VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/wltqGxSH7RM https://www.facebook.com/irkband
DYSTOPIAN FUTURE MOVIES: Dark, shoegazey alt-rock from Nottingham. Caroline suffer from a catastrophic amp failure early on, causing a lengthy delay and forcing them to drop a song from their set. They carry on regardless, but she seems a little unsettled for a while, hence the lack of a video. However, the closing song of the set, 'A Decent Class Of Girl' was pure glory and I wish I had recorded it.
https://www.facebook.com/dystopianfuturemovies
MEMORY OF ELEPHANTS: Ferocious instrumental math-metal. Ridiculously skilful and hugely energetic. Much running about and jumping up and down was done. Breathtaking.
VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/c-28Zp7ynZc https://www.facebook.com/MemoryOfElephants
STRAIGHT GIRL: Dark, synthy electro-punk. Also, 'not straight, and not a girl'. So, as they said themselves, not the best marketing strategy. Performing with a broken toe, it seems, but they soldier on heroically through the pain.
VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/GmVNBzakX9o https://www.facebook.com/straightgirluk
GALLOPS: All the way from Wrexham, a blend of rhythmic electronica and post-rocky tunes. A teeny bit like God Is An Astronaut at their synthiest, but less dull. I called them 'post-techno' in the video caption, so we'll stick with that.
VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/6I6UCylgWQw https://www.facebook.com/gallopsgallops
DELTA SLEEP: I wasn't sure what to expect from Delta Sleep. I had the - erroneous - idea that they played some kind of progressive post-something, and they are described elsewhere as 'math rock', but neither of those labels feels right. I get a strong flavour of American style emo, in the same ballpark as TWIABP, but I'm no expert. Not entirely to my taste, sadly, but maybe I'm just too tired to appreciate what they're offering. Nice glowy balls, though.
VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/S_vFBzU4VwE https://www.facebook.com/deltasleepband
Well, that's StrangeForms done for another year. I wish I could say that I didn't hate anybody, but that didn't quite work out. Ah well, can't win 'em all. Also, there was ALLORA, who are really, really good. Next year will be SF #10, and Kerry tells me that some bands are already in place, but nobody will tell me who they are. I'm betting on Nickelback.
