Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2011 10:19:24 GMT -5
ctrlaltdelete, Opiate, Let Airplanes Circle Overhead, Blastula
By Ali Swann
The Brickyard, Carlisle. Friday 7th November 2003
Tonight being a launch do for the new ctrlaltdelete EP, they’ve booked the acts, so there's some fierce contrast of billing on offer. Come in, take your coat off, leave your sensibilities at the door.
First on are BLASTULA!!! I don’t know if they spell it in capitals, or if they usually use three exclamation marks, but I’m sure they’d approve. I’m told it’s their first gig, and though thrash bellowing like this would usually give me ulcers it’s easy to take them in good humour tonight - they throw themselves pell-mell into covers of not only the Jaws theme, but- yes!- Prokofiev’s ‘Montagues & Capulets’, and so it’s reassuring to find they’re not too self-important about what they do. The crowd’s sympathetic, and on the bass-o-meter they rate a full 5 strings out of 5.
Handed the baton next are Let Airplanes Circle Overhead. To judge on their appearance and unwieldy name I’d have assumed there was a dose of petulant Emo in store, but I underestimate them - they kick off with a stop-start drum coda ugly enough to be worthy of Shellac, marinated with guitarwork of a fine dark treacle in mood that would find favour with any devotee of the Kranky label. These heady comparisons don’t bear out though, as when the violinist joins in they settle into the more prosaic sound of, well, Mogwai Fear Satan. They’re not a bad band, but they’re lacking in the kind of abandon that BLASTULA!!! spurt in abundance. What makes the quiet/loud dynamic spellbinding is the build-up of tension to splenetic release, but with LACO’s set what should be the compelling white heat is more like a recital of yer basic post-rock overtures. And the bass is too quiet.
This is my first encounter with Opiate as well, and though it doesn’t ring my bell I think it’d be true to say that, like BLASTULA!!!, they’ll do it for you if you’ve got the odd issue of Terrorizer lying about the house. However, I'm not arsed, new singer or no. Maybe I’d be more sympathetic to the pumping vein of their sound if I’d not already seen their new mouth Lee giving lashings of the same rage with SecondToLast. They rock like fiends, and so do Opiate for the most part, but seeing Lee catapult himself so emphatically into two bands makes me feel like he’s undermining the potency of both. There is eloquence in screaming, but to believe in it I need to see it embedded in songs rather than draped over them.
Having seen ctrlaltdelete a fair bit, it seems that every well-balanced set they play is countered with exhibits of awkward time-changes and silences-within-songs where I hunger for more tender passages. Tonight they give both - with guitar & bass laid on the floor the two boys chime out a sparse intro that’s innovative and stealthy, following it as a full band with a new piece that works up a heady bass-heavy pulse towards (uh-oh) the kind of distended mid-song dead stop that threatens to alienate so early in the set. Otherwise though, they’re a hard band to fault even for their faults - they press on past their odd fumbles to drive the art home with feeling (a healthy example to set), but they can still pay attention to nuance, and each other, as they play. Their set feels combative and high on white-noise meltdown, though the tinnitus is a welcome infliction every time, and ‘Content In The Knowledge…’ sports a flow of pastoral melody that’d be equally at home on Hatful Of Hollow as any David Pajo release.
It was a night of two extremes, yet even for my tender ears it was an enjoyable one. I find it a shame though that ctrlaltdelete didn't make better use of the chance to plug their record. Therefore, I'll do it now: buy it. The tunes are immense and the packaging is a thing of wonder - hold it in your hands and I defy you not to desire it.
By Ali Swann
The Brickyard, Carlisle. Friday 7th November 2003
Tonight being a launch do for the new ctrlaltdelete EP, they’ve booked the acts, so there's some fierce contrast of billing on offer. Come in, take your coat off, leave your sensibilities at the door.
First on are BLASTULA!!! I don’t know if they spell it in capitals, or if they usually use three exclamation marks, but I’m sure they’d approve. I’m told it’s their first gig, and though thrash bellowing like this would usually give me ulcers it’s easy to take them in good humour tonight - they throw themselves pell-mell into covers of not only the Jaws theme, but- yes!- Prokofiev’s ‘Montagues & Capulets’, and so it’s reassuring to find they’re not too self-important about what they do. The crowd’s sympathetic, and on the bass-o-meter they rate a full 5 strings out of 5.
Handed the baton next are Let Airplanes Circle Overhead. To judge on their appearance and unwieldy name I’d have assumed there was a dose of petulant Emo in store, but I underestimate them - they kick off with a stop-start drum coda ugly enough to be worthy of Shellac, marinated with guitarwork of a fine dark treacle in mood that would find favour with any devotee of the Kranky label. These heady comparisons don’t bear out though, as when the violinist joins in they settle into the more prosaic sound of, well, Mogwai Fear Satan. They’re not a bad band, but they’re lacking in the kind of abandon that BLASTULA!!! spurt in abundance. What makes the quiet/loud dynamic spellbinding is the build-up of tension to splenetic release, but with LACO’s set what should be the compelling white heat is more like a recital of yer basic post-rock overtures. And the bass is too quiet.
This is my first encounter with Opiate as well, and though it doesn’t ring my bell I think it’d be true to say that, like BLASTULA!!!, they’ll do it for you if you’ve got the odd issue of Terrorizer lying about the house. However, I'm not arsed, new singer or no. Maybe I’d be more sympathetic to the pumping vein of their sound if I’d not already seen their new mouth Lee giving lashings of the same rage with SecondToLast. They rock like fiends, and so do Opiate for the most part, but seeing Lee catapult himself so emphatically into two bands makes me feel like he’s undermining the potency of both. There is eloquence in screaming, but to believe in it I need to see it embedded in songs rather than draped over them.
Having seen ctrlaltdelete a fair bit, it seems that every well-balanced set they play is countered with exhibits of awkward time-changes and silences-within-songs where I hunger for more tender passages. Tonight they give both - with guitar & bass laid on the floor the two boys chime out a sparse intro that’s innovative and stealthy, following it as a full band with a new piece that works up a heady bass-heavy pulse towards (uh-oh) the kind of distended mid-song dead stop that threatens to alienate so early in the set. Otherwise though, they’re a hard band to fault even for their faults - they press on past their odd fumbles to drive the art home with feeling (a healthy example to set), but they can still pay attention to nuance, and each other, as they play. Their set feels combative and high on white-noise meltdown, though the tinnitus is a welcome infliction every time, and ‘Content In The Knowledge…’ sports a flow of pastoral melody that’d be equally at home on Hatful Of Hollow as any David Pajo release.
It was a night of two extremes, yet even for my tender ears it was an enjoyable one. I find it a shame though that ctrlaltdelete didn't make better use of the chance to plug their record. Therefore, I'll do it now: buy it. The tunes are immense and the packaging is a thing of wonder - hold it in your hands and I defy you not to desire it.