A credit to reviewers everywhere, I arrive late. I haven’t done my research either, so I don’t know who’s playing, but the Zodiac is packed, sweaty, and full of smoke by the time we push our way to the front of the crowd at half past eight: a good sign. Hugh J Noble’s last two songs are loud, and full of drums and bass and vocals that I wish I could hear better. This is solid Friday night music, and loud enough to rip the vestiges of the working world from my mind. They’re surprisingly tight for a band that hasn’t really played together before. I regret not having heard more.
As soon as Stornoway starts playing I know they’re my kind of band. They’re probably your kind of band too. Not only is this great Friday night music, it would hold up pretty well to a Sunday morning, too. Their sound is full, complex, and I can feel it vibrating in the right part of my knees. This is stuff I’ve needed to hear. They’re creatively courageous and entertaining, and when the trumpeter comes on stage with a horse’s head on I begin to think more bands could use a trumpet in their sound. Hell, more bands could use a guy in a horse’s head.
I could go on.
At this stage, however, I’ve got to point out that a lot of good music comes from Oxford. A startling amount of it seems to be made by young guys with fantastic skin. Stornoway is right up there with the best of them, complexions and talent and all.
At this stage I also have to admit I’m not from here. Justin Nozuka, who it appears everyone has been waiting for, is from where I’m from: Toronto, Canada.
I wonder, at first, if that’s why he sounds so familiar. I feel I’ve heard these songs before, and maybe I have. Justin Nozuka has been getting a lot of attention lately, and likely the related airtime has brought his crooning to my ears, but even so it’s nothing that I haven’t heard before. He’s solid, though, and if he did something unexpectedly creative he could be great. As it is he’ll probably just end up in the top ten. The crowd adored him. And knew all the words to his songs.
Combining some of my favourite Oxford things, Hugh J Noble is playing Port Mahon on June 3rd, and Stornoway will be there on July 31st and August 11th. You can chase Stornoway down sooner than that at the Exeter on June 8th.
As soon as Stornoway starts playing I know they’re my kind of band. They’re probably your kind of band too. Not only is this great Friday night music, it would hold up pretty well to a Sunday morning, too. Their sound is full, complex, and I can feel it vibrating in the right part of my knees. This is stuff I’ve needed to hear. They’re creatively courageous and entertaining, and when the trumpeter comes on stage with a horse’s head on I begin to think more bands could use a trumpet in their sound. Hell, more bands could use a guy in a horse’s head.
I could go on.
At this stage, however, I’ve got to point out that a lot of good music comes from Oxford. A startling amount of it seems to be made by young guys with fantastic skin. Stornoway is right up there with the best of them, complexions and talent and all.
At this stage I also have to admit I’m not from here. Justin Nozuka, who it appears everyone has been waiting for, is from where I’m from: Toronto, Canada.
I wonder, at first, if that’s why he sounds so familiar. I feel I’ve heard these songs before, and maybe I have. Justin Nozuka has been getting a lot of attention lately, and likely the related airtime has brought his crooning to my ears, but even so it’s nothing that I haven’t heard before. He’s solid, though, and if he did something unexpectedly creative he could be great. As it is he’ll probably just end up in the top ten. The crowd adored him. And knew all the words to his songs.
Combining some of my favourite Oxford things, Hugh J Noble is playing Port Mahon on June 3rd, and Stornoway will be there on July 31st and August 11th. You can chase Stornoway down sooner than that at the Exeter on June 8th.