MOSES: Live at Water Rats, London

London’s MOSES signed of 2019 with a home city gig at Water Rats. It has been another year of great singles, and crucially, real creative growth.

Then, mid set, the bombshell was dropped. Frontman Victor announces lead guitarist Rory is playing his last show with the band. Two years ago, MOSES were very much a band that had a great frontman. On this night, they were tight as fuck, and it was Rory dying on his MOSES sword in glory.

Maybe it was supporting The Blinders in 2018 that turned the corner for Rory. Their slot with the Manchester/Doncaster three piece, all of equal greatness, returned MOSES to Cro Cro Land this past April ablaze. A spiteful punkiness permeated their rock n roll credentials to take them to another level. This power, was out in full force at Water Rats.

To date, MOSES have been a band who have been one paced. Luckily, it was always full tilt and exciting. ‘King Size’, ‘Cause You Got Me’ and singalong anthem ‘River Thames’ were all prime cuts of this energy. However, they’ve never fully done Victor’s song writing justice.

Now, with ‘Joy’ and ‘Findings’ in their live arsenal, they have the ability to take you on his emotional roller coaster. As he sings “give me hope, give me love, give me something that can help me find you” echoes of U2’s ‘Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ fill the room. His sense of loneliness in a city as overpopulated as London, is the modern day equivalent of Andrew Lincoln’s career defining performance as Egg in ‘This Life’.

What the future holds for MOSES post-Rory remains to be seen but, if this is all it was going to be, its how you sign off in style. It was Ali Cook scoring a ton in his last for England. With the growth shown in 2019 in the studio, it would be one hell of a waste though.

*image courtesy of Ana Ben Ana

Kid Violet: Live at Water Rats, London

London’s Kid Violet kicked of Creation23’s Shambolics sold out night at the Water Rats last Thursday night.

There were moments when they truly threatened to outshine the headliners. The heavenly looping ‘Columbia’ meets ‘Cloudy Room’ psyche guitars of the opener ‘Be Happy’ showcased stadium filling rock n roll ambition. With togetherness and love at its core, it was for all the right reasons too!

The racing riffs of ‘London Wonderground’ walked a glorious line in between The Rifles and Foals. Two distinct alternative crowds that don’t always mix were lured together with devilish effect. Meanwhile, the glam stomping power of ‘I Don’t Care’ is packed with the outcast party spirit of Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’ and has hit written all over it. However, ‘Spaceman’ reached for the escapism of early Noel Gallagher song writing but fell short of the Chief’s early glory.

In frontman Billy Cotter, Kid Violet have an icon in the making. The menace of Liam’s vocals, Miles Kane’s strut and the endearing nature of Slaves’ Isaac Holman ooze from Cotter effortlessly. Despite his star quality, they had a gang mentality. Zac Smiths bass playing had dancefloor hooks at almost every time turn whilst, Pawel Plejewski and Charley Wilkinson’s shared guitar parts continually sparked off each off other.

Yes, yes we did mention them in the same breath as Oasis earlier. Are they there yet? No. When that spirit is ignited, we’re rightly getting fucking excited.

MOSES – You Need L

London’s MOSES have returned today with their new single ‘You Need L’ via Anti-Fragile Music. Recorded at Garden Studios, they once more stepped into the recording booth with the legendary Gavin Monaghan.

If ever there was a band ready for a slot across mainstream airwaves, it was MOSES. Always scintillating and emotionally uplifting live, they have continually delivered the goods for 18 months. Now, on ‘You Need L’, they have delivered their most creatively daring single to date.

Lyrically, it’s so delicate, whilst all around them is warped psyche-punk mayhem. If ever there was a musical indictment of the times, this was it! In 2018, they put out the eye catching ‘River Thames’ and ‘Cause You Got Me’. Raucous and lovable indie-punk, nothing new, but right in a slot of high quality anthems to be loved. Here though, they’ve said “to hell with that” and made academy sized singles sound underground and deranged.  

Just as you expect a clichéd thrash of the guitars, they pivot away to pastures new. It’s more challenging and interesting than all of their previous infectious work. Prime example being the dystopian ‘oooooooohhhhhhhhhs’. It’s not as spiky as IDLES and not as Melodic as The DMA’s but, there’s a tightrope being walked here that deserves equal respect.

They round of another captivating year at the Water Rats (London) Friday 22nd November. Expect a warped frenzy of a party!

*Image courtesy of Ana Ban Ana

James Baxter: The Water Rats, London

The world doesn’t need any more young men with acoustic guitars being nice. Thankfully, James Baxter is taking a leaf out of Tom Williams’ book. With a wry and acerbic wit, he took to the Water Rats stage on Tuesday evening.

Baxter’s songs, especially when accompanied by his guitarist and keyboardist, adopt Crosby, Stills and Nash harmonies but with a sense of brooding rather than love. 

Ironically, the brightest thing Baxter displays is his darkness. There is a bitterness to his observations about social media and politics that brings the aforementioned Williams and the early days of Frank Turner to mind.

Similarly to the godlike Billy Bragg, he combines social politics with his personal life. It’s this combination which could make Baxter a staple of many record collections in years to come.

The Bluetones: Water Rats, London

When big bands come to small gig venues, it’s invariably a great night and, The Bluetones at Water Rats was just that. Filmed for Vintage TV, the Hounslow massive rattle through an hour of their greatest hits.

Any Rik Mayall fan will tell you that, the best things about their live shows were the cock-ups. Mayall’s wit and charm would shine brighter in these mercurial moments than during anything scripted. For this reason, we hope Adam Devlin’s guitar failure makes Vintage’s edit. It showcased frontman Mark Morriss in all his comedic glory.

It’s striking just how many charting singles they play tonight (and how many they don’t). Especially in Water Rats, a venue synonymous with This Feeling and their new music nights. So many new acts walk through these doors with great tunes and attitude, but, in the long run, to no avail.

Radio and TV outlets need to wake up to the new talent available. The indomitable Caffy St Luce and Heather Ferguson are here tonight, they dedicate their lives to breaking bands, these outlets should be trusting them (among others) as they did with The Bluetones in the 90s. Otherwise, they are denying generations of music lovers a chance to go on journeys with their favourite bands. The highs of the top 10, the lows of the fading 5th albums, and then their glorious live comebacks when the kids have grown up.

This just leaves us to say, in the Bluetones immortal words, “So it’s on with the show”.

Image coutesy of  https://twitter.com/markpinsent

Breed: The Water Rats, London

“London. Who wants to get heavy?” decrees Breeds guitarist before swigging his mates beer and launching into a set of heavy hitting riffs.

As they tear through their set, you can see the spirit of so many great early 00s bands rising. The chaos of The Datsuns & D4, the punk of The Donnas, the playfulness Young Heart Attack combine with their natural BRMC stomp to deliver a rock music tour de force.

Former single 'Get With It', often threatens to spiral out of control with its dirty BRMC rock n roll pulsing through its veins. The combo of throbbing psyche and 70s garage music is perfection for Breeds image. They have a great old school blend of irreverence and wanting to shag everything in the room.

Get to Jimmy's early in Manchester (April 20th), they are not a support band to be missed.

Avalanche Party: Water Rats, London

When the music weekly magazines were at the peak, they uncovered 'scenes' in little pockets of the UK. In a disparate digital age, this seemed to have evaporated. However, what IDLES, Cabbage, Shame, The Blinders and now, Avalanche Party, are proving that they do, only on a more widespread level.

Avalanche Party, from Yorkshire, come from the garage rock end of the spectrum but, they undeniably belong to the 'punkadelic' movement taking over the UK. Leading them, the soon to be iconic Jordan Bell. He transcends music with his theatrics. Every hand movement and every foray into the crowd sends the message 'you will love and understand us'.

Through his antics and tight musicianship, they create a platform for the ferocious beat poetry to flourish. Expressive as this is, there is a litany of slogans roaring to the surface for fans to hang on to. 'You aint stopping a hero', 'revolutions high', and 'redefine your notion, of the best a man can be' form a holy trinity of moments this crowd want to rip from their intestines and wear as a badge of honor.

On 'Revolutions High', something truly special happens. They create a freeness to what is essentially a garage rock number. The passion and venom that emanates from them is tangible. It's now not enough to just play well, Avalanche Party have taken the familiar and forged a new path to fight against Daily Mail reading, Reece-Mogg appeasing wankers of this world.

The bar has been raised!

Image Source: Rhys Skinner https://www.rhysskinnerphotography.com/