Banana Cat
Four Bars Inn, Cardiff
August 1992
Shirley Bassey has flipped and is playing in a psychedelic pop group in Cardiff, or so it would seem judging by the hairdo and hand-waving of Banana Cat’s frontwoman Anju. This band are what could be termed as confectionery pop, a candy coloured arrangement of poor taste shirts, velveteen keks, and a love happy attitude that takes you back to the days of space hoppers and sugar mice.
With the cheeky abandonment that so many self-confessed guitar handlers of late lack, Banana Cat mix Talking Heads tongue in cheek with B52’s weirdness into a cocktail of frivolous tunes.
In the performance stakes singer Anju is a cross between Prince and the afore-mentioned Bassey; a garishly dressed entertainer, with a showy coiffure and a penchant for flirtatious vocals.
Playing in with ‘Fantasy Boutique’, a shopaholics dream tune, with Anju singing, ‘I like this yellow plastic ring’ with evil relish in her eyes, followed by ‘Love is the big idea’, a smooth, sexy groove, Banana Cat displayed an individual fervour and enthusiasm for their music, placing their paws firming on the credibility platform of their musical niche.
The crowd’s favourite tune, ‘Alphabet’ stands out with so much singles potential that you’d swear you’d heard it on the radio before. This lot are what Top of the Pops needs to make it an entertaining music slot again; and this is what Cardiff needs to get it taken seriously on the band front.
In the meantime go and see this lot, they are bonkers but brilliant!
Review by Claire Mahoney
Midway Still / Jacob’s Mouse
Jericho Tavern, Oxford
May 1992
Jacob’s Mouse are an East Anglian trio currently being championed by John Peel. They are perhaps not surprisingly very noisy, in many ways reminiscent of Scruff (possibly due to the singing drummer) with a dash of Napalm Death and a pinch of Sub pop; enjoyable now, perhaps great with a little more maturity.
Midway Still have been described as England’s Nirvana. Unfortunately they do not live up to the billing, but they are nonetheless Britain’s best grungers at present.
Early into the gig the now predictable stage-diving begins; and it falls far short of Olympic standard. The band play a reasonably unsurprising set – most of the new LP with older singles thrown in, climaxing in a furious version of ‘You made me realise’.
A good show but Husker Du did it better nearly a decade earlier.
Review by Paul Wigley
Misery
Bull & Gate, London
March 1992
Tonight is the end for Misery, perhaps the last this line-up will play. The cancer of disillusionment has eaten at the earth of their faith, and without faith there’s no hope, and without hope, no strength. A group that formed due to musical differences and ends among personal ones.
It’s been said that groups on the verge of splitting up produce brilliant, tense, taut music; this is true tonight. ‘D & Am son’, ‘no cure for cancer’ and the blood and sweat intensity of ’20 line poem’ twist and swallow themselves and spit themselves out, falling short of the sparse audience. ‘Love Life’ haunts lie a half ghost, it’s classic sentiment as potent as the day it was born of frustration. ‘I want to burn you alive in poppy fields…so no one can have you and no-one can touch you.’ Love was never so lost.
Misery are dying tonight but they hold themselves with dignity. They stifle the pain with a guitar that is molten metal with an infection and a saxophone that’s the voice of litost itself. Only once do they protest, during the climax of ‘Queerer than queer’ when the mic stand falls towards the abyss where an audience should be. The drop is great; it’s a full four minutes before we hear it hit the floor. By then, the group on stage are gone, forever. Five individuals making for five different bars…..
Review by Shaze
Sticks & Stones / Johnny Hardcollar
The Four Bars Inn, Cardiff
August 1992.
A near perfect night’s entertainment. Johnny Hardcollar represented a refreshing change to your usual support act. His slapstick comedy was reminiscent of a children’s seaside matinee performance in Prestatyn. Badly performed magic tricks made me sink into my seat, my head bowed in sympathetic embarrassment. All of this for a man who’s liquid refreshment consisted of ‘Jiff’ and half a dozen eggs!
I’ve got to say I’m not usually a fan of circus-style entertainment but this was one I really enjoyed and he’s well worth catching if you get the opportunity.
I’ve been meaning to see Sticks & Stones in the flesh for a long, long while. The wait was certainly worth it, they were simply brilliant, outstanding, use what adjective you like. This was top class entertainment at its best.
Keren’s voice, I’m struggling for a comparison, perhaps Tracey Thorn? Certainly in the sense of the quality, great on record and even better live.
The backbone behind the voice came from a noisy stickman and Dave’s driving basslines; not a combination that would immediately spring to mind but it was, nevertheless, the perfect match.
The songs that stood out? Well it’s got to be a case of take your pick, ‘Snake Charmer’ with its tuneful sax or perhaps the new ‘Cardiff nights’ – the choice is yours.
If you haven’t seen the band I recommend you do.
Stick & Stones won’t break your bones, but their music will blow your mind!
Review by Darren Jones
Kitchens of Distinction / Daisies
Jericho Tavern, Oxford
May 1992
Local band The Daisies, were a late addition to the bill after the original support, The Werefrogs, returned to the USA for legal reasons. These lads are highly rated in Oxford and not without reason; their energetic twin guitar assault having more in common with American bands than the Thames Valley sound.
Although deprived of their regular hardcore of fans they put in a quality performance and by the final song, the rousing ‘Come ON’ they have a large proportion of the audience leaping around.
The main band are one of music’s enigmas, the three piece make a huge sound, probably only bettered by My Bloody Valentine, but with this they have songs of emotion and passion, such as ‘Gorgeous Love’ and ‘Quick as Rainbows’; far better than MBV or a thousand Slowdives or Chapterhouses. The Kitchen’s live experience is, if anything, better than on vinyl.
From the entrance to the overture to ‘The King and I’ into swirling open chords of ‘Railwayed’ to the sing-a-long ‘Third time we opened the capsule, an upbeat ‘Drive that fast’ and on to the encore closed by a ten minute burnout of the poignant ‘Hammer’; the crowd were captivated by the intense songs; but entertained and even brought to laughter by the onstage banter.
Perhaps it’s the bands unfashionable ‘librarian’ image or the subject matter of the songs – homosexuality, AIDS, religion, death, etc, that prevent them from appearing on the cover of the NME or Melody Maker. In this age where there are so many bands that can at best be called ordinary, they should be treasured as something special.
Review by Paul Wigley
‘Peace of Cake’ Concert
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
July 1992
A concert that was organised to bring attention to racism and to call for peace in the world and none of the bands really addressed the issue from their ‘podiums of power’!
Nevertheless, the well-attended concert featured eight bands – four rock/pop bands upstairs and four folk/pop bands downstairs.
Upstairs the likes of Prunus Tenella and The March Hares entertained the hordes with their blend of brash pop music. However, it’s hard to see either of these bands breaking out of south Wales. Prunus have youth appeal but lack the imagination and the dynamics necessary to escape from their ‘grunge and leathers’ pigeon-hole. The March Hares have the musicianship but lack the energy to make their songs seem anything else but very turgid.
The cabaret was provided by Terrorist Ballet Dancers from hell, an art school band if ever I’ve seen one! Their fickle noise was further emphasised by a dodgy PA mix.
Similar fate struck the bands downstairs. Headliners the Dostoyeskys and Sticks & Stones were also bitten by the PA bug. Despite this both bands tight repertoires were well received.
In fact, all the bands received ripples of applause tonight. A case of preaching to the converted!
Review by Mr. Angry
‘Groove Salad’ featuring The Bourbon Boys/ Strange Fruit/ Blood Orange
Municipal Hall, Pontypridd
August 1992
Groove Salad is a fortnightly feast of all sorts of music served up at the Muni under the Valleys Live banner. Diversity and quality are the aim, and tonight scores on both counts, and proves again what an excellent music venue the Muni can be.
First on are Rhondda’s Blood Orange, framed a suitably psychedelic blitz of light and smoke. It’s early and the hall is far from full, but their spacious indie groove spiced with fine melodies still goes down a treat, particularly when Beatles influences (never far away from the surface of their own songs) crystallise in a sparkling, high energy cover of ‘Norwegian Wood’.
Something of a fruit salad this week, as next on is Strange Fruit, blending jazz with Latin, and bits of everything in a wonderfully eclectic set that’s warmly received. A woman singer with a voice as sharp and sweet as citrus duels and duets with chiming guitar breaks, aching trumpet solos, and some dazzling percussion – mellow and vibrant at the same time.
And to wash it all down few things can match a slug of The Bourbon Boys’ intoxicating Cajun rhythms. In an accordion-powered set that drives like Nigel Mansell, Gwent’s finest spark a riot of dancing, slipping in shades of Irish and R’n’B here and there to keep everyone on their toes. Immediately afterwards somebody books them for their wedding reception.
And that’s it – altogether a marvellous musical antidote to the deluge outside. Groove Salad needs bigger audiences and may soon run out of bands with foody names (although I understand they’ve booked the Watermelons for the next one!) but for quality and variety in the grandest of settings they are becoming unmissable.
Review by Paul Clarke
The Skangers
T.J.’s, Newport
September 7th 1992
The Skangers, being one of the most talked about bands in south Wales at the moment, had a lot to live to. And live up to it they did.
Their sound was lively and catchy, almost punky at times. They have two singer-guitarists, one with a Scottish accent that did most of singing and all of the talking, and who wore a fluorescent yellow t-shirt. They had slightly different styles, but combined well. They were sometimes reminiscent of early REM, but what I heard of their lyrics suggested a lyrical style of their own. Their buzzwords and song tiles give you an idea – ‘Good Life’, ‘Storm Dancing’, ‘Let Yourself Go’ – and they combined melody and intensity in a way which no one else is doing at the moment.
A few songs particularly stood out; one with a spoken verse (the only downbeat song of the night); ‘Storm Dancing’ with a killer drum riff and played with stunning, hypnotic intensity; and the last song, ‘Let yourself go’ with plenty of chords, riffs and harmonies. They also gave a lively version of REM’s ‘The One I Love’, which was introduced as their ‘token cover’ and well received by the audience.
My only complaint was the ‘muddy’ vocal sound which made it difficult to hear the lyrics, especially with the unusually loud guitar sound.
On the whole, The Skangers were all good music and attitude. I liked them, and they have the spark of dissimilarity about them that points towards a future. The ‘band most likely to’ in south Wales at the moment?
Review by Paul Edgar