Sonic noise adjusters Mashemon launch their new EP at the Lomax, Getintothis’ Lewis Stapleton avoids the St Paddy’s day puke for a night of dark electro.
After bobbing and weaving our way through the howling St Patrick’s Day throngs pissing in the streets and falling in front of traffic it was a relief to find a haven upstairs at the Lomax for the Mashemon EP launch.
The lights were down low for a night of electro-flavoured music. The indefatigable DJ Alterboy had already activated the sonic mood adjusters when Getintothis turned up in the middle of a Smiths/Lana Del Rey mash-up.
Faded Gold.
First up was Faded Gold and our immediate thought was ‘Eluvium in a beret,’ (always a good thing), however, just as we were getting into the ephemeral polyphonic landscapes and charcoal toned films of clouds and swimmers it was over. Brief but promising.
Next came So Sexual, which in human resources terms was Go Heeled with a keyboard player. The new man and material resulted in a heap of sparkly indie pop and dirty nightclub throb. We could feel it in our hips and a twinge of funk in our inner loin, so they were certainly mustering the correct voodoo. In a word: pert.
So Sexual.
Dass Unser strode on and asked for the lights to come way, way down. By now the crowd were whooping and cheering in earnest as they escorted us into the age of audiovisual hi-definition, continuing to build the mood of general euphoria with their polished nuggets of electronic pop. Occasionally bitter, intermittently sweet and catchy as hell they carried it off with aplomb.
Dass Unser.
Headliners Mashemon beetled onto the stage and kicked off with Kompressor, the lead track from their new EP, copies of which had been sprinkled around the room for the crowd.
Imagine Abba played by a King Crimson covers band staffed by Faust and the Bad Seeds and you’re almost there.
If the night had been building towards a climax then Mashemon certainly brought it to a gasping, juddering culmination with their rocktronic depth charges, each song accompanied by a lovingly collated selection of films and images.
The band was tight, the vocals swooped and soared wonderfully and they performed with presence and power. Final song Wear and Replace ended with an apocalyptic wall of sound to bring the live music to a close. The crowd went nuts and then went out to brave the bedlam outside, clutching their new EPs, possibly as talismans against all things crass, dumb or vomiting in a gutter.
Mashemon.
Pictures courtesy of Keith Ainsworth.
