Although Newport is a bit of an armpit, Le Pub is an absolutely wicked venue and a haven from the outside world, and it’s not even that far from Bristol. A half-hour jaunt across the architectural wonder of the Severn Bridge makes for a nice drive, although the toll seems to go up 30 pence each time we go over. Bastards.
Spider Kitten sound a bit Godflesh-y thanks to some chunky drum machine beats, dense riffs and hoarse vocals, but it’s dead plodding and they keep trying to sing and do melodic bits which tend to fall on their arse. Ghast plough through some black metal and pay their respects to the classics of the genre but it’s a bit much for me on a Sunday evening so I hide downstairs to nurse a soft drink.
Moloch are up next and they’re something of a Nottingham supergroup now. Chris is still singing, with Henry and Craig from Army Of Flying Robots (Henry’s drumming here, his genetically modified power-calves positively stamping down on the kick pedal) and Steve from Gramercy Riffs helping out. They sludge it out with some big riffing and a nice hardcore vibe running through it all, providing a homegrown alternative to bands like Fistula, Rue and 16. They’re not quite as memorable as those bands yet, but they will be soon I’m sure, and they rock it live.
Thou are from Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and as such have that swampy sludginess running through their veins. They are quite the tight unit having got all that practising, gigging and recording under their belts in what seems like a frighteningly short period. Straight from the off, they blow us away with a seriously loud, seriously satisfying bit of downtuned chug, but the key thing is that they don’t dwell on anything too long, and before you know it, the songs have flowed into embellished sections of psychedelic, winding, trebly, duelling guitars. Super.
