Cougar Microbes are marching in like army ants…

Muse pulled this out of the bag at Glastonbury this weekend with Mr The Edge providing a helpful hand.

TRACKS:

Muse – Where The Streets Have No Names (Feat. The Edge)

At this years Camden Crawl I was asked by Vitamin Water to capture the vibe of the festival and given a festival goodie bag. ‘I was tickled by the contents of the pack which included a tent light, a poncho, an inflatable guitar, some frisbees and plenty of drink bottles amongst the many goodies. Considering I was only heading a few minutes down the road from my house I was impressed with how many bases had been covered.

With this in mind I decided to take a drastically different approach to enjoying The Crawl. In the past I had been too preoccupied with catching as many bands as possible whilst getting stressed out by the disorganised schedule thus missing out on any notion of experiencing the atmosphere. This year I would take it easy dropping in on a few bands and generally checking out my favourite local boozers and their impromptu gigs.

This sounded like a great plan until I set out on Saturday afternoon to collect my passes. Following a week of warm weather a familiar drizzle and cold chill descended on Camden and I bloody wished I had remembered that Poncho. Despite it only being a short walk by the time I had arrived to Koko I was already soaked to the bone. Tickets in hand I resolved to head back home to dry up and grab a bite whilst waiting for the rain to die down. After a quick stop at The Camden Arms I finally set out again to catch a part of Shy Child‘s and New Young Pony Club‘s performances.

Having seen Shy Child a few years back as main support at Shepherds Bush Empire I recalled that, despite playing to an empty room, the duo were entirely likeable. A few years on and they are touring in support of their second release ‘Liquid Love‘. I definitely liked the progression they’ve demonstrated with songs taking on a hard to place dreaminess that is far more “pop“, in the best possible sense of the word, than their previous output. It’s hard to believe there are just two members making this grand sound and tonight tracks from their two albums blend to great effect.

New Young Pony Club are a band that have benefitted from  an incredible wave of hype upon their debut. The followup up ‘The Optimist‘ is probably a more consistent effort brimming with confidence, just look at the album title. Singer Tahita Bumer is bursting with personality and constantly appears to have a bee in her bonnet which makes for interesting viewing; it doesn’t matter because the new material is captivating. Predictably the crowd goes mental for ‘Ice Cream‘ but the band set the bar high by playing so many songs from the new release.

On Sunday I fared considerably better seeing a few artists and generally enjoying the vibe with some good friends. Firstly I caught Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip in the large outdoor stage on Hawley Crescent. Despite the adverse weather conditions Pip had the crowd eating from his hands before he even said a word. Like some sort of political rally from a parallel universe everybody leaves pleased. Not too far away Norway‘s brilliant Casiokids gave another top performance at the Jazz Cafe later on. leading the crowd with their infectious sound there is an abundance of spontaneous dancing and crazy grins in the room. The band had energy to sell and on the live stage this translates brilliantly.

I also catch a part of Dev Hynes, AKA Lightspeed Champion‘s set at the Electric Ballroom and am positively thrilled. Despite having played ‘Falling Off Lavender Bridge‘ hundreds of times when it was released, I had almost forgotten how good these tracks sound. I still need to take in the new songs but generally enjoyed his energy and delivery. If there is any justice Lightspeed Champion should go supernova soon.

In between visits to the Lock Tavern and The Pembroke Castle I still managed to catch We Are Scientists close the night. Though I have enjoyed the band over the years if I am to be honest I have not really delved much into their material since the release of 2005′s ‘With Love And Squalor‘.

To the outsider their performance can sometimes feel like an in joke for them and their fans. The band speak a crazy slang when talking between themselves and the fans literally go ballistic for each and ever track. However, looking at the ensemble of odd balls in the room, both in the audience and on stage, it is impossible not to crack a smile.

This year’s Camden Crawl proved to be more enjoyable than past editions for me largely because I decided to take it easy only catching a few selected artists and a handful of street performances whilst soaking the atmosphere. Despite the weather doing its best to sabotage the weekend Camden and its multiple venues embraced the music. Thanks to Vitamin Water for sending me along.

TRACKS:

Shy Child – Disconnected (Ocelot Remix)

New Young Pony Club – Chaos

Casiokids – Toggens Hule

We Are Scientists – Nobody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt

Postponed due to Icelandic volcano activity, fans were put on tenterhooks in anticipation of the Crystal Castles‘ live appearance at London‘s Heaven on 19th June. And their fans are very die-hard, to put it mildly, piling up as close to the stage as possible two hours before the set began as if waiting for the messiah.

The MESSIAH crawled on stage on all fours with a savage expression on her face; part woman, part beast, part machine. Disciplined by the stern beats of ‘Fainting Spells‘, the opener from the Castles‘ self-titled second album, the creature arose to euphoric applause and started to thrash about like a harpooned shark. It was Alice Glass, the humanoid CC singer – would she dive into the crowd despite plenty of frictions with bouncers and broken up gigs in the past?

It’s fair to say that Alice spent more time crowd surfing than she did on stage. The crowd were grateful, passing her around and holding her up like the female Iggy Pop incarnation that she was. Producer and synth player Ethan Kath is the glue that prevents it all from falling apart, motionlessly hunching over his synthesisers and exercising a somewhat sinister authority over the proceedings.

Crystal Castles might play a dance based, retro-futuristic 8 bit version of noise music, but make no mistake: this is a hard-boiled punk band through and through. Coupled with their epilepsy-inducing lightshow, the manner in which they thrash through material such as the mighty ‘Crimewave‘ or the more Ladytronesque ‘Celestica‘ is of such intensity this author can only imagine it’s like a Stooges gig circa 1970.

Ultimately, Alice Glass‘s not-of-this-earth stage persona is a wonderful testimony to the power of human expression. Catch them live if you can!

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Guest post by the enthused Zuri Zurowski

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TRACKS:

Crystal Castles – Celestica

My appreciation for The Kissaway Trail was established on the live stage and their performance, opening the main stage at Wireless Festival in 2006, was the basis for one of the early posts on this blog.

It seems incredible to think it has been nearly 4 years since that performance and the release of the band’s debut album but the tracks on that album still sound fresh today. Just as I began to think the band had dissapeared off the face of the earth news begun to filter through of an upcoming release ‘Sleep Mountain’ on hip us label Bella Union.

The Danish 5-piece kicked off an ambitious tour which seemingly brought them through London every other week and I caught performances at the Lexington, the Barfly and fiitingly stumbled across their show at the Hoxton Bar & Frill, just as I had done back in Hyde park.

Some of these venues where smaller than the actual bar stand at Wireless Festival and I was looking forward to hearing the bands repertoire, old and especially new, in such an intimate setting. With their chiseled looks and Nordic cool the band looked the part and received an appreciative response from the ever present Danish contingent before they even hit the stage.

Tracks from their debut sounded brilliant, obviously benefitting from the experience gained from years on the road; managing to be polished and magnified. Better still, the new material showed matured songwriting approach with co-frontmen Thomas and Soren developing a penchant for sweeping instrumentals and dramatic melodies. All this built on the foundations of a solid rythmn section lead by impressive skills of drummer Hasse.

Over a few nights I witnessed The Kissaway Trail put in a dependable shift and win over audiences big and small. With Sleep Mountain being released just recently I hope it is not another 4 years before I see and hear from them again.

Tracks:

The Kissaway Trail – SDP (White Lies remix)

Start your Easter bank holiday with a bang, Join us in Old Street‘s best rock venue South of the Border for our April Fool’s Treat!

Human Wave Attack and Dangerman will be performing while your friendly neighbourhood Cougar will be spinning a a collection of BIG indie/rock/punk tunes.

For more info check out the event page!

I hastily cancelled  any plans I had for Tuesday 16th as soon as i found out WHY? Were rollong into town yet again. Regular readers of this blog will know the band have been featured on these pages more than a fair few times.

The band had been outstanding the first time I saw them back in November 2008 when frontman Yoni Wolf boldly announced that Barack Obama would win the American elections, some 5 hours before the whole voting shindig had even kicked off. As far as first concert experiences go this was a special show.

Their next London performance at the Garage was a step up in venue size,though perhaps not in sound quality. In spite of this the band reaffirmed how how well their repertoire translates to the live setting. Songs from the yet to be released ‘Eskimo Snow’ begun trickling into the setlist and the band, with the help of their trusty soundman Snake, made good work or a slightly shoddy sound system on the night.

This show at Heaven is further proof that the californian gang’s popularity is steadily growing. This is made comically clear when I spot a tout outside of the venue trying to sell an overpriced ticket to the bemused members of the band as they walk by. But is this appreciation deserved?

As the band shuffle on to the stage I am reminded of just what makes WHY? so special. Opening with one of my personal favourites, ”The Hollows“, the band deliver a burst of energy right from the onset, fully exploiting the addition of Mark Erickson on bass and, in particular, Andrew Broder on guitar to beef up their live lineup.

The added ‘oomph‘ of being a five-piece for this tour means that song structures and instrumentals segments are beautifully embellished.  Yet again it has to be said that soundman Snake does a super job in recreating many of the production tricks from the bands last few albums.

Yoni Wolf appears liberated by the reduction of percussive duties, namely the lack of his habbitual snare drum and xylophone set up. Instead he is free to strut and gesticulate around the stage and in his own oddball way pays homage to his hip-hop roots. The frontman is flanked by the “classic” WHY? lineup consisting of his amazingly skilled brother Josiah on drums and the equally talented Doug McDiarmid on keys and guitars.

Naturally tracks from Eskimo Snow feature heavily and are expanded into new territories and delivered with renewed energy . However, there is plenty of room for the the many highlights from ‘Alopecia‘ with “The Vowels Pt. 2“, the aforementioned ”The Hollows” and “These Few Presidents“ recieving memorable renditions and sparking mass crowd sing alongs. There is something both eerie and beautiful about a room full of people shouting “even though i haven’t seen you in years, yours is a funeral i’d fly to from anywhere” in unison.

After returning for a brilliant encore and some hilarious karate kicks courtesy of Yoni there is one last treat in stock for this audience. Taking advantage of the presence of Andrew Broder on stage the band deliver an incredible rendition of Hymie’s Basement‘s “21st Century Pop Song” that exceeds even the recorded version of the track, right down to the broken up dual vocals at the end.

WHY? are a band that has constantly evolved over the space of each release whilst simultaneously succeeding in the hard task of remaining fresh and exciting. On the live stage these qualities are delivered with true personality allowing for each melody to be accentuated and magnified for maximum effect. Without fail the band has always delivered memorable performances and as long as their live show doesn’t suffer I see no harm in the venue sizes growing more.

TRACKS:

Hymie’s Basement -21st Century Pop Song

WHY? – On Rose Walk, Insomniac

I enter Highbury’s tiny Buffalo Bar on a freezing night expecting the venue to be crammed to the rafters with internet kids in the know, after all just a few weeks after this tiny debut London show was announced an additional night at the Borderline in central London was hastily added. I was sure that  our Capital’s scene stalwarts and savvy donwloaders would be swarming by the hundreds and that this additional date was to cope with extra demand.

As I descend the few steps into the cold little venue I find myself bemused by the lack of bodies present… a couple of support bands, an idiotic gaggle of braindead teenage girls, some industry bods propping up the bar and that’s pretty much it. Sparse.

So Many Dynamos take to the stage rather late for a Tuesday night and I’m starting to suspect that whoever is “promoting” this show is a bit of a clown, all the better for me as I stand, view unimpaired by punter’s heads and take in the fine fine show. The band are relaxed and appear happy enough as they get down to business banging out tune after tune from their impressive ‘Loud Wars‘ début album.

As the final bars ring out I leg it for the last tube, disheartened with the state of the live music scene in this fine city, it’s a shame visiting bands are faced with such a venue/promoter lottery when making their first steps this side of the Atlantic and I really worry about the damage it could cause.

I’ve heard recently of some bands starting to skip the UK all together when heading into Europe for just this reason, an ailing industry having it’s faltering breaths clubbed out of it by clueless douchebags good for nothing but ripping off naive local bands night after night to make their cash.

With that in mind I sincerely hope for my sake if nobody else’s that So Many Dynamos are good enough to make the trip at least one more time.

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First guest post by King Kong Bundy

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TRACKS:

So Many Dynamos – The Novelty Of Haunting

Out of intense envy for everyone who is going to SxSW I considered a silent protest for the duration of the event. However, having featured Nevada‘s Burning Man Festival a few days ago I figured the awesome Austin event deserves some Cougar loving too.

Besides, as you can see from the flyer above the guys at Vagrant are putting on showcase next week is below featuring some of the bands we have been covering on these pages. If you are out there drop by and make sure you tell them Cougar Microbes sent you.

Talking of Vagrant bands, It has been a while since I have written about Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and that just can’t be right so here is a new remix of  ’Home‘. Considering this is my personal favourite track anybody fiddling with is heading into risky territory. I’m glad to say André Anjos of RAC manages to pull it off creating a track that is unique in its own right yet doesn’t hide the source material entirely from the listener.

TRACK:

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home (RAC Mix)