Just returned from seeing the wonderful Errors at Bournemouth's 60 Million Postcards.
Initial things I have learnt from this evening are as follows: -
Bournemouth music fans can nod their heads with enthusiasm. It's far more polite and British than actually jumping about you see.
Errors are amazing. Tight. LOUD. And packing more beats and funk than the most beat filled and funky thing on the planet. True Story. They were immense.
I first heard Errors way back, and remember their first record was a regular on my Spotify playlist. I was privileged enough to get the opportunity to support them with my band when they played at the infamous Southampton Joiners on 5th March 2010 in support of their second LP - Come Down With Me. I was given a bit of advice when I first started out taking my band seriously, and that was to be careful of the smaller, more indie bands. They are the ones that tend to have the ego, and it is the larger bands that are lovely. I kept that in mind and have encountered both on my travels, and after supporting them back in the day, was chuffed with how friendly and genuinely kind Errors are as people, which I find makes me more enthusiastic to buy into their music. They're brilliant chaps, making brilliant music.
Anyway tonight - back to that. The band were on top, top form. One member down from when I last saw them, they played to a small but enthusiastic (by Bournemouth's standards) crowd of about 50 people and ploughed through a 60 minute set.
It was pretty much agreed by the end of the evening that the drumming was some of the best me and my friends have ever witnessed live, but this would be nothing were it not for the enthusiasm the whole band clearly have for the music they are making. I caught up with Stephen Livingstone of the band just prior to the show and he was very excited to be playing the new songs out on the road and is proud of their new effort, the fantastic - " Have Some Faith In Magic".
If you have never listened to Errors before, then I implore you, please give them a listen. They may not be your thing, but what have you got to lose? They may just be the best thing you've ever heard. If you are familiar with the three piece, then congratulations, I applaud your taste in music.
So Just a quick one really. Enough blogs have been written about The Drums since they formed in 2006, but for me my relationship with the band has been such a love / hate affair, that I feel I owe them an outward display of affection.
When NME first mentioned The Drums in the radar section of their magazine I checked them out because I was sceptical how a band could claim to blend The Beach Boys with Joy Division. I didn't like them. Or rather, I didn't give them a chance. I regarded them as NYC Cool and way to interested in what 'sneakers' they were wearing then the music they were putting out to the world. It wasn't helped when in an NME issue, dedicated to new music in the U.S.A., my favourite band, The National, were relegated to some inside page, whilst THIS band, who had only been around a year, were given the honour of appearing on the cover *.
I checked out their debut LP, and felt little warmth from it and assumed I wasn't really their demographic. I'm Matthew, and I listen to serious music, about serious things.
I am pleased to say that I have got off that disgusting, venomous pedestal, and stopped pouring scorn from upon high on anyone attempting to enjoy their lives through fun music and have found that in the past 6 months I have truthfully listened to music that I enjoy, regardless of if it is cool, or in, or trendy, groovy or hip. No, the time for bigotry is over, and for this I must thank The Drums.
When the band released their second record, their 'sophomore', to use the correct lingo, I was listening to Arcade Fire solidly and had also discovered Berlin era David Bowie. I thought I would be nosey and see what The Drums had been up to, and if they had produced more of the same, but the band had a little surprise in store for me. Not only had they refined their sound while my ears had been busy elsewhere, but they had also hit upon a nerve creatively, that produced better and more confident songs. For me, Portamento is the sound of a band that knows what its doing. I can't put my finger on it, maybe it is the lack of romanticism compared to their first outings, maybe it is the impression they're not bothered about impressing sideline fans anymore, maybe it is just simply the song craft, but something changed for me from The Drums to Portamento. I listen to the record and I feel darkness, but not in a Gothic, Pornography era The Cure sort of way, more melancholic, and very much in keeping with a band sighted as an influence, Factory Records' The Wake.
On the first record The Drums were children playing on the roofs of cars. They were Levi's too short in the leg and they were bowl cuts. That record was to my ears, pure innocence, it's every sound excretes romanticism and hope, that the world is going to be a kind place. Portamento is the late teenager to that record. It has been kicked and punched, had its wallet stolen and its heart broken.
The Drums make me feel that is okay to simply like pop music. For the longest time I battled in my head with how I could possibly like this band when I also liked these large grandiose bands, full of angst and political rage. Since the riots in London last year I have found myself attempting to seek mental refuge from the harsh realities. This isn't something I recommend, at the end of the day I will have to pull my head out of the sand sooner rather than later, but for as long as I possibly can I want to live in my bubble and keep the world at a distance, even though I know on the horizon is a heavy black cloud of change and despair headed in the direction of any good, honest and hard working individual. The Drums are my blanket and my reassurance during these times. On Portamento I feel I have a kindred spirit in its desire to stay innocent and hidden from the world, and to put on a brave face and show up to work, and thanks to that record I have been able to go back and enjoy their past releases with a better understanding of where they fit in the
scheme of things.
I could keep talking about this, and many other things besides, and at some point I am sure I will, but for me this story has a happy ending and has taught me that attentive listening can, more often than not, be rewarded and you can pull something out of a record that you didn't expect to find. I certainly didn't think I would find it in a three piece pop group from Florida with a rather fantastic taste in filmography and jackets.
I feel that I should add, just as a little side note, that this is not the first time I have found attentive listening pays off, far from it, I'm am loyal to the bone about bands I care about and have a list as long as my arm of albums that I return to on an almost weekly basis when I am seeking anything from comfort to laughs, but this is the first example where I found it in the most unlikely of places.
Jonny Pierce, the singer and front man of The Drums, once said that all he wants in life is to write perfect pop songs. I think its safe to say he's definitely on the right track. Portamento is pop perfection.
Check out the new music video for 'Days'. Based on the life and sex change of synthesizer extraordinaire - Wendy Carlos.
*I no longer buy The NME - Utter shit. Words cannot describe my dislike for that publication.
