The good thing about Sounds From The Other City is that wholeheartedly it seeks to champion the underdog. The independent promoter, most of whom get scant support and publicity from local press, but who enjoy a passionate subscription. Then there’s Dead Digital, the enthusiastic, maverick label and now fully fledged festival promoters. From such passions grow mighty movements and testament to this are the “sold out” stickers on each pubs notice board.
Salford has some way to go to create a bohemian atmosphere and tolerant community for its leisure and drinking facilities on the edge of Manchester’s city centre. It’s somewhat ironic that it takes events from Manchester to organise, initiate and to try and achieve this, but it works.
We were lucky to be allocated the Rovers Return, a traditional pub with good beer and keen prices and a very accommodating landlady who seemed to take all of these loud noises in her stride. This is useful when the first band strike up at 5pm. MYOHO are pretty much at home in these surroundings. The front man is affable and happy to be here as their good times rock and roll is immediately lapped up by the regular Sunday tea time (!) drinkers. MYOHO are entertaining and keep things blues’d up despite snapping 7 strings and getting a spare guitar donated – although I have to say the singer was the model gentlemen in the personal thanks stakes.
THE LOUNGS though, have got to be the best surprise and certainly the best new act to emerge from tonights proceedings. Despite a four band gap between them and the Deadbeats, their heady blend of Americana, the indie bliss of bands like The Housemartins and of course the Merseys 21st Century New Wave, is pretty astounding. Happy go lucky tunes are played with unconcerned abandon, but so naturally timed and executed too. They look good, all beards and a casual rattle, dish up a catalogue of enjoyable and sunny tunes.
THE SHMATTE KID takes this a stage further with shaking sonics and indie melodies but it’s FOR TOMORROWS who steal a good part of the show.
In between though, a visit to the High Voltage evening at The Black Lion, unveils TVH-3. They literally rip apart the room, mangling in C86 sonics with bleak, but hook drenched blasts of frequency. One track sounds like Gary Numan taken to new tooth shattering levels. The singer drops to his knees, arms flailing, whilst the guitar gasps and rasps out solid blocks of white noise and neat, almost hidden riffs and flourishes. This is maybe the best I’ve seen TVH-3 play - and when they’re this good, they are nothing short of inspirational (and also good for the hearing aid industry ).
Back at the Rovers, FOR TOMORROWS mysteriously, remain one of Manchester’s best kept secrets. The three piece thrill with their pyrotechnic guitars and ground shaking chords. Instead of distilling everything down to a guttural grind, For Tomorrows keep everything as upbeat and widescreen as possible. Big guitar breaks and riffs are backed up with the compulsive, snare attack drummer (who uses a big gong at the end of the set) and the neat singing, which breaches into the world of super melodics so easily.
Now was the time of Yena Veldt. Even tough the bass amp decided to malfunction and create Mount Versuvius scale bangs in the P.A., Veldt provide another tasty slice of the post rock underground sound. It’s a popular style too. The duelling, razor wire guitars lock in even more tightly to the drum and bass lines, as the narrative barks over the top of regimented almost staccato set pieces. If Yena Veldt have done one thing, they’ve discovered the future (without a TARDIS ).
THE WHISKY CATS seem to wield a unique brand of Blue Rondo Ala Turk, meets Acid JAzz. The almost show band excerpts do keep things relatively mainstream, but it’s massively subscribed to and the venue really does begin to boil, in a boilerhouse-full-of-people-listening-to-a-neat-soundtrack sort of way . Final glory though must go to The Deadbeats. Somehow they’ve sliced up bits of delta blues and America and transported it all into a Salford pub, carefully reassembling the sound into a naturally sounding rumble of Deep South rock and roll, played with the ambition and determination of the residents of a Northern English city. You can’t ignore the charismatic contribution and inspiring guitar riffs of Sam Hammond, together with the full bands song writing ability – and as the evenings proceedings clatter to a joyful conclusion, there is truly a sense of regeneration in the air – both musically and socially.
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