No Rest For The Spacemen: Fickle Pickle, Southend

Image Credit: Indie Cult Club

Watford outfit No Rest for the Spacemen made their Indie Cult Club debut last week at the Fickle Pickle.

‘Music Till I Die’ was the kind of indie-psyche number that’s destined to remain a set opener for decades. Between the John Squire-esque hooks and the funked-up basslines, they conjured the kind of magic that has the Death Star’s tractor beam power!

Lead guitarist Danny is a show-stealing performer. His elaborate flourishes and solos on ‘Goodbye Jane’ and the warped debauchery of ‘MASH’ led the band's charge to announce themselves. Cutting through the mayhem was frontman Charlie. His deep drawl on ‘MASH’ leans into the cool of Jonathan Richman, whilst on ‘Somebody Like You’ he beds in between the Baxter Dury and Ian Broudie to deliver great pop sensibilities.

On ‘Goodbye Jane’, these strengths converged, hinting at UK rock ’n’ roll’s next great partnership. They pushed and pulled against each other with effortless chemistry, each recognising the other’s talent and knowing exactly when to step aside.

In recent years, The Lilacs and The K’s have kicked open the doors for this kind of ecstatic indie guitar music, and on this showing, No Rest for the Spacemen look a dead cert to knock it off its hinges.

Lois Leon: Fickle Pickle, Southend

Image Credit: Indie Cult Club

Southend’s Lois Leon opened the third instalment of Indie Cult Club’s Teenage Kicks at the Fickle Pickle in Southend last week.

In April, we caught them at the same venue, and there was an effortless quality to their brand of slacker-rock-meets-shoegaze playing. Fast forward two months, and they came armed with two new songs and a newfound abrasiveness.

Their languid style remained, but the new songs had an eagerness and a directness to step forward. A confidence percolated every toiling guitar riff and every sultry vocal delivery. This is a band in the ascendancy.

Their single ‘Stuck’ felt grander, more cinematic. Subtle, but adventurous, it grows into the room as only a great indie movie can. Frontwoman Lois’ delivery charts a course from innocence to torture, and it’s nothing short of intoxicating.

If Losi Leon’s previous appearance at the Fickle Pickle hinted at potential, this set felt like proof of it. With sharper edges, stronger songs and a growing sense of purpose, they left little doubt that bigger stages await.

Monumental

Image Credit: Indie Cult Club

Monumental embarked on a joint venture with Indie Cult Club in February. Teenage Kicks is their indie night at Southend’s Fickle Pickle, which they headline bi-monthly. This, their third instalment, was supported by Lois Leon and No Rest For the Spacemen

Every generation should have a mod revival. It’s a glorious right of passage that The Molotovs kicked off in fine style with their debut album back in January. Southend’s Monumental are now on hot their tales carving out a space between Mod and Rock ‘n’ roll.

No finer exponent of this than on ‘Eyes Wide Open’ as the guitars tap into Ocean Colour Scene's ‘Mosely Shoals’ splendour whilst Frontman Finn Sexton serves up soulful anthemic vocals a new generation can bellow into the ether as life depended on it.

The cover song, so long overlooked in a new band's arsenal, got two airings. First up was a riotous version of Fontaines DC’s ‘Liberty Belle’. Second up was The Specials’ ‘Little Bitch’, which conjured more images of The Ordinary Boys bursting onto the scene in 2004 than their ska predecessors. Together, they knitted their brand of Mod and rock ‘n’ roll through protest and rebellion. Furthermore, it highlighted how they’ve merged those styles on ‘Reasons’ to create an enthralling joyride single. Sexton’s vocal straying from volent to soulful amid the colossal drums created a vitality that very few can match.  

It might have been their third appearance, but there were no signs of band or audience fatigue. Monumental were compelling, and it is set to catapult itself to big stages this year.