New Blood Festival 2012 - Nights One & Two Reviewed

WEDNESDAY 4 JANUARY

Citizens of Rock! Prepare to be whiplashed! Get ready to be blown away! Brace yourselves for impact! Because the weather outside is really rather wet and windy on this strange January evening.

Luckily, the first ever New Blood Festival has got some decent new bands to warm you up with - the best in town, in fact. Although we would say that. But it's true. Even through we would say that. But it really is true. Anyway.

First to wipe away the vomit-stains of New Year's Eve are Parties, whose tom-tom driven, late '60s rock wouldn't seem out of place in the Hollywood Hills that spawned The Doors and Love. They're not entirely retrogressive: hints of subversive rage lie beneath the hippie vibes, bringing to mind the Pixies' sarcastically upbeat numbers, such as 'Here Comes Your Man'.

Black Cherry's dance-rock is tighter than Scrooge's ass, and super catchy too. Their songs might aim for your hips, but there's an intense emotional undercurrent to them too - they bite at the point where melancholy turns to anger. Definitely deeper than your average guitar-toting beardymen.

Next up: enter the goth! It's Creatures of Love who invoke misty graveyards and Celtic chillwave. It could be said that these guys are breeding emo with Xx-isms, but that perhaps does a disservice to their uniqueness: singer Bonita has an epic, un-ashamedly soulful voice, while the band's tribal grooves are mysterious and voodoo.

It's almost time to flee into the rain again, but first Underground Railroad will deliver their almighty psychedlic rawkesness. The Gallic band aren't shy of mixing and matching their set between progressive pop and pounding, mountain-splitting noise - the latter of which sounds like Eno after being zapped by The Incredible Hulk's radiation kit. RR

THURSDAY 5 JANUARY

Day two of Artrocker’s New Blood Festival begins with The Voyeurist. To my frustration the room is practically empty; producing no atmosphere for what should have been electro/post-punk epicness. Still, the vocals are amazing and the set picks up eventually - but an audience you can count on two hands is never going to make for attention-grabbing stuff.

Luckily for the next band, people have decided to turn up! Sulk are indeed sulky (boom boom) and evidently fans of the bowl cut - oh, and they're bloomin’ marvellous! The frontman’s
frantic hair shaking is a highlight, along with their soaring, Stone Roses-esque psychedelic guitars. The crowd barely move a muscle, but you learn to expect that from East London… shame.

East London does love Toy however, and having seen them many times myself I knew they'd live up to expectations. Despite a few technical hitches (bassist Maxim Barron manages to crack a smile when his instrument croaks) the band are as euphoric and explosive as ever. Only thing is in fact, that I can’t help but be distracted by their swishing hair and Dominic O’Dair’s cheekbones.

If Toy and The Horrors had children they’d create the most beautiful generation. Imagine that…

Moving swiftly on, Dalston’s worst stereotypes are out in force for headliners Ulterior. Last time I saw them frontman Honey resembled Axl Rose *shudder*, so I'm a combination of shocked, confused and elated when he saunters on with NO HAIR and wiggles his leather clad arse around.

Ulterior pose excessively, there is no denying it - but the Dalston folk lap it up and go mental nonetheless, as their wall of noise melts our faces. However, the fail of a human pyramid and a random bare-chested bloke are both unnecessary and disturbing. Keep your clothes on, dear gentlemen of the audience, the room may be dark but we can still see you. LJ

PHOTOS BY WILDBLANKET PHOTOGRAPHY
WWW.WILDBLANKET.COM

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