This Et Al / Birdpen / Cabaret Rat

Thursday night at Moles Club in Bath, and as Pulp night it means it’s time for the weekly showcasing of yet another crop of so-called up-and-coming bands.

	"Every song is a burst of energy, full of the rich, chaotic sound which has seen Biffy Clyro come to prominence, but as of yet it isn’t an ordered chaos"

There is always a certain degree of cynicism on my part when I come to view yet another band who think they can offer something new to a music industry that is already overloaded with fashion conscious copycats. I suppose the whole evening is one of judging potential. Very rarely are you going to find a band who represent the real deal at such an early stage. As a result, it is essentially a case of uncovering the budding genius beneath the rough edges. This is a case of talent spotting and speaking in predictive terms.

One thing I can predict for certain is that the first act Cabaret Rat will forever remain in the back catalogue archives of even the most obscure venues. Perhaps ironically lauded as a ‘new’ artist, he struck me as a grumpy middle-aged local playing heavy 80’s grunge with only the accompaniment of an electric guitar and a backing track he probably bought at a Woolworths sale. Standing on his own in front of an extremely sparse crowd, he announced his final song was called ‘Somebody Sleep With Me Please’ and I hastened to the bar for a stiff one before I could witness any more of this man’s desperate and frankly shameless plea. I am definitely not living in the countryside when I’m older if that’s the result.

So, not soon enough, he departed towards his ageing groupies to be replaced by Birdpen. Although their name didn’t fill me with confidence, their music certainly did. Clearly well versed in the art of atmospheric, innovative rock, they seemed to be competent performers during a very tight set. They had a very diverse sound, swapping from progressive indie to electro synth-rock at the turn of their middle song ‘Off’. Nevertheless they seemed a little lacking in definition and guidance, still yet to define themselves as an act capable of monopolising certain regions of the music market. I was left with a sense that I couldn’t quite work out their sound. A good thing in terms of prospective originality, but not so beneficial if you can’t relate to and understand the purpose of their music. So I must yet again refer to a slightly unharnessed potential that has come to be the defining feature of new bands.

To a greater or lesser extent, this was bound to be the case with This Et Al too. A band who have deservedly received much praise from many in the music industry but who, more often than not, are referred to in terms of future capability. This implies that although the foundations are there for a great band, there is still a great deal of progress needed to realise the final product that their abilities deserve. And without meaning to sound unimaginative, I couldn’t agree more. Every song is a burst of energy, full of the rich, chaotic sound which has seen Biffy Clyro come to prominence, but as of yet it isn’t an ordered chaos. Consequently, each song is an amalgamation of a fairly arbitrary collection of sounds giving the impression of several songs within one. Call me old fashioned but I like a bit of continuity and direction in music.

After all this negativity you would be forgiven for thinking that this band aren’t any good. Despite my previous criticism I couldn’t help but be impressed by the overall impression of their sound. It’s innovative, it’s intense and it’s unashamedly British, drawing on influences from the post-punk era. It’s an epic result as they begin with ‘Can You Speak European?’ and continue with ’The Loveliest Alarm’, the opening track from their forthcoming album ’Baby Machine’.

Lead singer Wu tries to encourage a fairly unresponsive crowd which included a man on crutches and a woman in a leopard skin print dress. I can only assume there was no dress code. Undeterred, they continued with single ’Of National Importance’ which showed a more focussed song writing ability on their part and offered a tantalising glimpse at what they might achieve with a bit more experience.

The last song ‘Wardens’ again served to show their undoubted ability but also the beauty of these talent spotting nights in uncovering future chart-toppers in their raw, untamed beginnings.

As I said earlier, it’s all about potential and potential gets you nowhere in the end. It needs to be built on. Only time will tell. So get back to me in a year’s time.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.