Stephanie Heneghan endures the rain and a frustratingly mixed bag of music on day two of Liverpool Sound City. Thankfully White Denim and the always-on-form Kazimier Krunk band send her home happy.
It is a lazy stereotype to assume that all English people talk about is the weather and even lazier still to be an English person that lives up to this stereotype.
But I am not one for over exertion and given that it’s May, I’m wearing 100 denier tights and town is a hubbub of American Apparel hoodies being used for practical reasons, I think it’s only right to give a nod to our current miserable climes.
It’s a washout Friday night and the upbeat atmosphere of last night is in danger of getting rinsed away with the gloom. On a positive note, it means the venues are busier earlier as people take cover from the weather and the bands that are on first have more of an audience to play to.
Swiss Lips at The Garage are the first stop, a Manchester band whose track U Got The Power has been making waves over the past six months and who are about to drop new single Danz.
The Garage is probably my favourite venue of this year – I am a sucker for a dirty warehouse feel – and their sound is a perfect fit for it.
At the Zanzibar, Daytona Lights are doing their energetic 5-piece thing complete with jazzy elbow clapping routine (seriously lads, you can drop that bit) and they play a slick set but it doesn’t really grab me.
It’s good but not especially captivating, with audience chatter audible and ongoing technical issues, they’re probably not going to look back it as their best gig. It’s certainly better than their acting in Hollyoaks, though.
Kestrals live at Liverpool Sound City 2012.
Matters don’t really improve with Kestrels at Mello Mello. Blaring out the kind of energetic alt rock I associate with my 15year-old self, it screams of teenage rebellion and plaid shirts and probably fits in perfectly with the 90’s revival that appears to be taking place at the minute but for me it’s a sound best left in 1995.
The Temper Trap meanwhile were the zeitgeist sound of 2009 with the track Sweet Disposition and taking full advantage of that, the band play an overly long self indulgent set before finally giving the crowd what they turned up for. I did one halfway through it anyway to go and catch White Denim.
The Temper Trap live at Liverpol Sound City 2012
Ahh White Denim, the saviours of my night. Whereas I felt every long drawn out second of the Temper Trap‘s set, White Denim‘s 90 minutes flew by in a blur of guitars and drums. Barely pausing for breath, segueing from track to track seamlessly, they were bloody awesome.
Another highlight was stumbling upon Pikachunes, an act consisting of a man, some keyboards, a questionable shirt and industrial quantities of dry ice. Brilliant electro pop stuffed with synths and 80esque vocals, he’s playing on my Spotify as I type this. The power of music eh.
Ending with a spot of pied piper action round the Academy of Arts with the always tremendous Kazimer Krunk Band, it was definitely a night of two halves with the latter half rescuing the evening. Just one request for Saturday, no more rain. Please.
Pictures by Sakura and Marie Hazelwood.
