By DJ Astrocreep
Manchester again for a gig – what a shock – is my housemate’s reaction as I ask him to feed my dog on the way out of the door, headed across for a four band bill headlined by Dead Naked Hippies, a support act from when I caught DZ Deathrays live over in Leeds a number of gigs ago. They impressed me enough to want to catch them live again, so a headline slot seemed an ideal way to reacquaint myself with their music.
After another evening of train delays and cancellations (thank you again, Northern Rail!) leave me arriving almost an hour late at the venue than planned, I only catch the last half of the final song of Sioux, which is a pity, as I get straight into their shoegazey psych straight away. A great pity I can’t speak further on them.
Little Illusion Machine are next up and to be honest, they’re not too bad. They sound kind of like the Arctic Monkeys covering The Shadows, or at least using their effects on their tracks and it is quite likeable, if a touch more towards modern Indie than my own typical leanings. It’s their first gig as a new line up, with the bassist being the new addition and he seems a credit to both himself and the other guys, being knowledgeable of the songs and quite adept, as are the other 2 members. There are also definite Stone Roses influences in their writing, too, as can be witnessed in their penultimate track, while finale ‘Hummingbird’ is a lot more towards psych than their previous numbers and for me their best of the set.
Dissonance, distortion and wall of noise choruses are what Kul Tablasi seem to be about, I quite quickly discover as they start their set, creating a Sonic Youth style of approach to psych and indie rock. Despite the frontman needing to be told to shift to a higher octave at the start of the song, it’s clear that the band have a good cohesion, while the use of twin vocalists of the drummer and lead guitar – I’d use names, but they’re not shown on their social media – works well, with slightly different vocal styles working well at the different points to emphasise that distortive stance that makes upcthe choruses of their tracks. It’s a really enjoyable set, that has set the bar quite high for our headliners.
Seeing Dead Naked Hippies in a headline slot is a fair bit different than I saw in their previously mentioned support slot. The volume has definitely gone up and Lucy’s in your face Punk attitude is even more obvious, as she quite literally gets into the faces of not just those at the front, but even halfway back, as she works her way around the crowd at different points in the set. Her delivery style seems to be cross between Siouxsie Sioux and Jemina Pearl of Be Your Own Pet, a band I would compare them to, minus the driving bass work that Be Your Own Pet have.
It’s quite interesting that they manage to convey a good garage punk n roll feel without a bassist in the band, though the guitar work and use of pedals, while the drummer is as metronomic as ever, keeping the other 2 in time and check. They’re a great live act, though the noise level seems to be somewhat of an issue for some that had been around earlier in the night, as most of the other bands haven’t stuck around to support the headline on a quieter night, which isn’t so good of them. This doesn’t seem to deter or make Dead Naked Hippies give any less, though as they put on a great show with plenty of energy. A top set from our headline act.
- PHOTO CREDIT: Photos by the author.
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