Boss Cass, Mutant Menace, The Dieflowers
Friday night at Underland (Chintz) loaded up with a couple of great local bands on the scene, supporting a not so local one man punk band who goes by the name of Boss Cass, currently on tour to promote his latest single, ‘House Always Wins’.
It was unfortunately another quiet night for some reason. This town never ceases to be unpredictable when it comes to attendance at a gig. However those that showed up were treated to an awesome evening from a diverse bunch of noise makers.
Those ethereal marvels known as The Dieflowers were first on the line up, so let’s dive right into their marvellous melodies.
The Dieflowers
It was great to get a chance to hear this group of shoegaze pedalling (sorry not sorry) rascals in their entirety. Last time I saw them play, Baileys (Lead Vocals) voice was struggling to carry over the rest of the band (See Previous Review), fortunately tonight everything was nicely balanced and damn was it a treat to hear her spectacular siren song shine through.
Genuine music lovers will acknowledge that the voice itself is an instrument, not just a courier for lyrics but something far more potent and significant. Bailey is no exception here. Her voice is finely tuned and sits so well amongst her fellow bandmates compositions. From the starry, glistening guitar work delivered by the two Kyle’s, which ride over the swinging heartbeat of the drums (Dan).
Their entire set is like one continuous soundscape, with interludes between songs filled by sweeping ambience in lieu of any chatter from any of the band. Their performance feels more conceptual than a familiar structured A to Z of songs.
Their time on stage came to a close with a magnificent crescendo. A whirlwind bass melody (courtesy of Olive) cut through the glittery sound and the drums kicked straight at your chest. All that was left to deliver was a simple, hands clasped thanks from Bailey and a round of applause from the albeit small but appreciative crowd who had stood transfixed on the spot in awe for the past half an hour.
My Takeaway:
Fans of the quiet, calmbeforethestorm moments you would find in the likes of a Deftones or Loathe track. But the moment is stretched out for an eternity and you become lost in its glory.
Mutant Menace
It seemed like for a moment, the Newquay duo Mutant Menace had softened up a bit, as they opened with a calm and slow song (by their standard), but then after a couple of minutes we were treated to that familiar wild, unhinged display that this pair are known for.
Ru (Bass & Vocals), not satisfied with the space on the floor in front of the stage, ordered everyone in the room to ‘Get fucking closer’ to which we all politely obliged (mainly for fear of being maimed). He seemed to have somewhat of a personal vendetta against his mic stand, knocking it about the place, throwing it on the floor after grabbing the mic and sliding it along his fretboard, creating an explosion of experimental fuzz (Hendrix called, he wants his theatrics back!).
I haven’t heard such a thunderous drum intro since the first time I clapped my ears on the Van Halen hit ‘Hot for Teacher’ but when Raff fired off the start of their track ‘Aviator’ the whole building felt like it was gonna come crumbling down. Seriously, how is this much noise coming from two people?! Their sound is so full, so complete, so damn magnificent.
On a hair pin, frontman Ru can switch between a grainy belting serenade to an XL bully sized bark. Delivering a sound not unlike Frank Carter, with equal amounts of stage presence, but far less ginger. Seeing someone play a solo on the bass without anyone covering rhythm is a real sight to see (I guess that should actually be a sound to hear).
This deadly duo really do have something special going on, they’ve grown in the short space of time since I last saw them (Previous review) and I can’t wait to catch them again!
My Takeaway:
Infectious hooks, wild stage antics and a drummer who is most definitely in need of some kind of tranquilliser. Go check ’em out already!
Boss Cass
It’s time for ‘The Boss’. No, I don’t mean that dusty old rock n roll bloke who relentlessly sings about America and wears a shit ton of denim. I’m talking about the newly rebranded, one man wonder that is Boss Cass. Armed with a couple of guitars (played separately, obviously), a talking boombox and a dope ass lighting rig, Ollie Andrews took to the stage with enough attitude and energy that I think you’d actually struggle to fit any other musicians on the stage.
When he wasn’t growling the words to his latest single ‘House Always Wins’ he was front of stage orchestrating the crowd. Getting everyone to clap their hands in the air, singing along to his catchy choruses, or just generally shouting ‘C’MON!’ and other such ambiguous orders at us all. This dude really ain’t fucking about, he means business and has one single item on his agenda, bringing a punk rock party to your town. Bound by a precision tight drum track which has been carefully crafted by his own hands, Boss Cass is pure energy from start to finish.
As a musician you have to play as though the audience you desire is already in front of you, Andrews seems to have nothing smaller than a stadium in his vision. The beauty is in the details. Bringing his own lighting rig which is synched up perfectly to his performance, we were treated to a visual display that accompanied his sound perfectly.
Andrews makes a dig at the person who had away with some of his merch earlier in the night, announcing, ‘This song is called, ‘Which one of you cunts stole my shirt?’.
(Just a side note, if the aforementioned thief is reading this, you might think you were being funny, but touring musicians depend on merch sales to try and break even. All you have succeeded in is being a twat. Ok, rant over.)
Before calling it a night, We was treated to a culmination of the craziest bunch of bastards you could stick on a stage together, as the Mutant Menace lads climbed behind their instruments and accompanied Andrews to fire off a viscous rendition of the Soft Play song ‘Punks Dead’. I think a health warning would have to have gone out if they played any more than one song together. Prolonged exposure to this much onstage energy would no doubt have Chernobyl level fallout.
My Takeaway:
Anyone who whines that they don’t have enough mates to start a band (myself included), take note. From now on there are no excuses.
**I had the pleasure of interviewing Ollie before the gig, so keep your eyes peeled for the interview, which will be landing very shortly! In the meantime catch Boss Cass at one of the many dates left on the tour.**
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