On 15th February 2006 at 18:22 Anonymous 4205 wrote...
Vessels are indeed excellent. One of the best bands I've seen in Leeds over the last few months.
Check out their tunes on myspace at www.myspace.com/vesselsband
Kimono
Live at Mixing Tin on Thursday, 9th February 2006
I've been harbouring a prejudice for a long time now. To me, there is something innately distrustful about underground/unsigned bands who have that polished sheen of 9-5s spent in the rehearsal room about them. This prejudice has grounding mind you: years spent watching bands who would churn out song after song of incredibly tight, professionally honed drivel. After time, a simple equation formed in my head - overly 'slick' (for want of a better word) equalled dull every time (disclaimer - my maths gets in to rocky territory with bands that are... you know... actually signed an' that).
Now Vessels come along and I feel like the ground has disappeared from beneath my feet. They are without word of a doubt the tightest, slickest and most musically proficient band I think I've ever seen on the unsigned circuit. They're also one of the best. Bastards. Very much children of the current musical climates, we have a constantly changing dynamic of effected guitar melodies, atmospherics, slow build ups and crashing climaxes. Nothing new there. We also have what is effectively an instrumental band employing subtle vocal harmonies to good effect, but then again this isn't ground breaking either. To be honest, I can't put a finger on what the attraction is. On paper they would appear to be a worthy but pointlessly dull example of the monkeys-with-typewriters situation that appears to be developing in underground post-rock these days. However Vessels prove to be the elusive ones that raise what is fast becoming a formulaic approach to a genuine art form. I can't write anything that explains why this has happened or why it sounds so very good. All I can do is implore you to find them, listen to them and thank them. Repeatedly.
Johnny Poindexter are up next, and there's a slight feeling of pity in the air for the guys (who after all made this night happen) going on after the genius of the last thirty minutes. A fair proportion of the crowd are still debating what they've just seen as the first notes ring out, but this doesn't last for long, as when the Poindexters get going there's not much point in trying to compete against their trademark volume. This band fills a room with sound... and then pulls it away from you again. And just as you get to the edge of impatience for it to explode again... it does. This stands them in good stead for indulging the crowd, and it works like a treat. Unfortunately (I'll say it before and I'll say it again) far too much time is spent with the band indulging themselves just as much, giving the distinct impression that we're watching a rehearsal or jam session as opposed to a performance. This is nit-picking, as the vast majority of the time Johnny Poindexter are reaching the visceral heights of the genre in exactly the same way as Vessels before them, and if anything they have an edginess in that it might just all implode about them at any time. Which just makes it that little more thrilling, but if they managed to do all this without tripping up over themselves you just know life would be that little bit better.
Winning awards for the furthest travelled award tonight are Iceland's Kimono, and they're here to break the mould that's been set for the night by the previous two bands: gone are the shiny array of effects pedals, five minute build ups and the buying of today's trendy soundscapes like they're going out of fashion. Here is a far more stripped down, bread & butter version of what two guitars, one bass, a drum kit and a set of vocal cords can do. And it's great. It takes a song or two for my ears (and most of the audience's it seems) to catch up with change after an hour of lingering chords and crashing cymbals, but the music hits that magical midpoint of sombre atmospherics and elated rhythms that always engages. There is little true variation in the set, and we the audience do edge towards a lack of interest at some points... but this is very much a master class in a band restricting themselves to the absolute minimum. And when a band can connect to people in this way without having to sugar coat it all to keep their attention? Well sometimes the most understated voice can say the most. Sometimes the loudest can. Tonight we've seen the best of both approaches. More of the same please Leeds.
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On 16th February 2006 at 08:18 Anonymous 30 wrote...
"today's trendy soundscapes"...I didn't realise they were trendy 
On 16th February 2006 at 09:01 Anonymous 401 wrote...
Mmmm... perhaps you're right Instantrick... perhaps you're right.
Dave LMS - I think maybe Vessels have got confused with The Vessels on the bands page?
On 16th February 2006 at 12:29 Anonymous 4205 wrote...
Sort your cheap website out. That's what you can do.
On 16th February 2006 at 17:40 Dave LMS wrote...
Sorted out now, but I've had to append (Leeds) to the band's name to distinguish them from the other band already on the site. Shame. But hey... there's a few other bands in the a-z that share names and I just put something in brackets so they can be told apart.
On 21st March 2006 at 16:14 Anonymous 3468 wrote...
Vessel? Isn't that the singer in David Devant And His Spirit Wife?
