Telegrapher, a bass-and-drum two piece, gave us a little hint of what we were in for tonight. Operating in the territory between the oppressive drone of Sunn O))) and the noodly fretwork and elaborate time signatures of high end progmetal, they regaled us with five or six solid – occasionally too solid – chunks of agitated doom-rock.
After such intensity, Young Conservative was perhaps intended as a palate cleanser. A solo act whose on-stage activities consisted mainly of fiddling with a laptop and occasionally stabbing at a MIDI keyboard, his music harked back to a certain kind of rather muted 80s vibe – wistful minor chords washed over crisp, looped beats.
Nothing, however can entirely prepare an initiate to Sly and the Family Drone for what was about to happen. An impressively bearded trio, they began by burying a tinny 60s pop classic beneath nicely escalating crust of looped screeches, buzzes and bangs until the base was obliterated. And then…
…well, then things got unusual. The band had set up in the middle of the room, encouraging us to surround them. The reason for this, and the various broken percussion instruments surrounding the band, became clear when we were invited to pick up a stick and join in.
Probably violating some sort of code of reviewer’s detachment, I took up the challenge and began bashing at a nearby snare drum. Meanwhile, the two ‘vocalists’ seemed to be giving up control of the performance – one of them stripped to his underwear and climbing the speakers, the other waving a microphone at anything that sounded interesting.
Doubtless there was some trickery involved – while doing a lot of impressive fills, the actual drummer kept to a clear and steady beat that wasn’t hard to follow, and microphones were only occasionally directed at amateur participants. But it genuinely felt like the edge of chaos and, as will happen in these circumstances – things got a little shamanic. Had I written this review immediately after the performance, it would have consisted largely of grunts.
I’ve calmed down now, but the memory sticks with me. Sly and The Family Drone bring a sense of humour and generosity to a genre more known for its forbidding self-seriousness, they bring a tight and musical ear to their noise aesthetic, and at the end of a hard week they bring you something to hit as hard as you possibly can. Full marks.