The mighty HEALTH are coming to town like a rampaging eight armed beast and brining with them a band I’ve been wanting to check out for ages but never really thought would reach our shores, Denver’s Pictureplane who I stumbled upon with the rest of the Rhinoceropolis crew in a HEALTH interview way back in May last year. Also on the bill are two local bands one being CHOPS who I’ve always some how managed to miss by turning up late to gigs at the Brudenell before and Castrovalva who I did actually miss this time for that very reason (it’s a long drive alright!)…CHOPS are a mad band, the grooves they kick up are insanely addictive the drummer is sick. They stick synth led basslines to the frantic breaks and other rhythmic parts to create a hell of a groove. Then if that wasn’t enough, which sometimes I think it is… they whack on some casio keyboard jazz or sax along with twisted vocals, sometimes this works a treat and others, well I’m not so sure. I really enjoyed it though; it’s both intense and fun if a little reminiscent of Big Beat and specifically ‘Weapon of Choice’ by Fatboy Slim.
Pictureplane I was kind of hyped about, but this was a bit of an ipod-backed energy sapping fest, it would work so well in a club with bits mixed in-between though. I mean he had tin foil and bunting and some really cool moments but there was a slight school disco feel to it and maybe even a distorted evil stoned brother of Calvin Harris feel to it. The highlight of his set was probably his HEALTH remix, which he ended on that managed to piss all over HEALTH’s version somehow. At his best Pictureplane sounded like a mix of High Places swirling almost shoegaze like bliss and a more house savy Crystal Castles that wasn’t afraid of a bit of cheese. Pretty cool all in all, kind of nice.
HEALTH impressed the hell out of me the first time I saw them supporting Zombie Zombie at the Brudenell, it was a rip roaring adrenaline fuelled stopping starting freak out, full of liquid grooves and primitive tribalistic pressure. This time it was just as tight and just as many flowing grooves, with noise, power and down right funk being harnessed into a full on live experience. Yet a lot of the new material didn’t quite have that pent up energy that ripped the place apart last time. Everything bar a few bits and bobs sounded like the last few tracks of the HEALTH s/t album, you know the epic almost ballad like stuff with actual guitar parts, which is all well and good but there was a little to much of that. It made for more of a hypnotising watch as apposed to jaw dropping intensity. ‘Die Slow’ still sounded lame mind I really can’t get on with that track, Pictureplane really showed that song up with his remix earlier in the night by spacing it out and ripping it up into a dance floor bomb and most importantly getting rip of the Kasabian-like riffing. HEALTH weren’t bad as such just not as mind blowing, there was a more post-rock edge to them this time, which is cool but before they were really hard to put in a box and this time it seemed a lot easier to pigeonhole them. They have gone from free flowing idea after idea to a more structured almost song-like sound, I still dig it but it’s taken away a little bit of energy. I’m still yet to hear the latest album so that might put a bit more context on their performance, which was impressive in a physical, tight as hell kind of way. HEALTH still do the noise/dance/rock/psychedlic/groove fest way better than anyone else right now, and put on a hell of a show.
Excellent live video shot by Martin the night before in Sheffield:
Links:
http://www.myspace.com/healthmusic
http://www.myspace.com/pictureplane
http://www.myspace.com/mightychops
http://www.myspace.com/castrovalvamusic
http://www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk/
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