The Sheffield Scenester

Racing to the 02 Academy on a Saturday because I'm SURE I'm late wasn't what I'd intended. I didn't need to panic though, I had plenty of time once I got inside to nestle in to a dark corner and watch the night of music.

A howl of bass announces Russian Dolls' presence on stage, building the moody, dark atmosphere up until their music comes galloping out. This is really a surprise attack, being the first song of the first band of the night, but the heavy, fast paced punk sound charges straight at the audience. A rapid volley of vocals guitars later, the band introduce themselves and new member Matt, synth/keyboard/lefty guitarist; Racism rears its ugly head however, with an anonymous audience member shouting “He's Ginger!”.

Russian Dolls continue undeterred, their next song a battle between punk lyrics sung with a southern twang and cosmic guitar solos reminiscent of the 90's. Keeping with the hard hitting, high energy music, a cover of The Prodigy's Omen is perfect. A very good cover too, but with more of a metal sound than the original. Showing some diversity, Russian Dolls slow the assault, less of a cavalry charge, more of a Mexican standoff, as the lead singer grabs a guitar and the new guy starts an eerie piano introduction, eventually evolving into a more contemporary song than the previous ones. After this excursion in to a more Indie sound, Russian Dolls return to the front line and bombard the audience with a punk inspired sound, but with much heavier music. The band finish with another soft piano tune, the kind of light, summery song usually found in mobile phone adverts. Russian Dolls are a great start to the evening and an EP of their music is already available; catch them online.

Scoundrel's come to the stage and instantly begin with a lively drum intro, flowing in to a sound they would never relinquish the whole night. A fresh, clean pop-rock, enjoyable and, importantly, not falling in to the cheesy early 2000's style. This energetic Indie-pop band are eager to spread their enthusiasm, calling on the previously timid audience to come forward, “they won't bite”. A short introduction next, before bounding in to a funky mix of country and metal, lifting the atmosphere, before coming to an abrupt stop, leaving the audience wanting more and visibly more excited. A new song for Scoundrel next and another pop-rock/indie style tune, with hints of Vampire Weekend and a good old sing along chorus, curtailed by another abrupt end. If anything though, Scoundrel just get more energised, launching into more rock, with the result of the bassist losing his shirt, emulating The Flea and Taylor Lautner simultaneously. In his semi-naked form, the bassist also announced that there is a charity collection for the Japanese Earthquake at the back of the room and if you put your email down, donors can have a free EP next month; nice guys eh? In an impromptu interview at the bar, the band told me that tonight was their first gig as an all male line up, the female singer leaving after almost a year because of education commitments. Wanting to diversify in the future and introduce more synth to their music, Scoundrel obviously have ambition and a sense of humour, listing Sting and the Wombles as musical influences. Returning to the music, the band slightly diversify away from the rock in to indie that most resembles The Kooks lighter notes, fitting their set so far brilliantly. Scoundrel's best song comes in their penultimate one, continuing in the catchy, enjoyable rock of before with its sing along chorus made up completely of vowels, but this time with a heavier bass evocative of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, giving this song a much more mature feel. The final song for Scoundrel is relatively ambitious compared to their others, beginning with a very funky bass and drum solo, evolving in to a great song with rock instrumentals and warbling guitars.

Bucking the trend of bands for tonight so far, Olio Strutt's appearance contrasts with what's come before....bearded, grizzled and delivering a very different style of Indie. Seemingly with two frontmen and music laden with edge and attitude, this aids the band to produce a much deeper and darker tone. Whilst not losing any of the energy already built up by the two previous bands energetic performances, Olio Strutt's drive comes from a different source, their rugged appearance translated in to their music, powered along by the Indie rock heavily inspired by Kasabian and the singers aggressive bursts of rap and spontaneous explosions down the mic. After the initial wall of sound, the second song starts with a noise almost like whale song, eventually accompanied by suitable rock, whining guitars and gruff vocals, setting a precedent for almost all Olio Strutt's songs. Diving down the dark whole all the way, there's light at the end with their final song, the singer shouting “DANCE!” and then showing us all how, while the rest of the band look just as animated, only restricted by their instruments. This last song is also probably the only one that the audience had time to learn and sing through the barrage of intense guitars and growling vocals.

I was very interested to see what The Wynells would be like live, because after listening to their EP I had a fair idea of what to expect from their music, but not from their physical performance. I also didn't expect a uniform of pork pie hats, braces and blue ties, or the trumpeter..! This band obviously intending to create some memorable idiosyncrasies. Kicking straight in with my personal favourite and one of the heaviest of their songs Devil's Child. The tune has less of the subtlety of its recorded brother, the singer James's tambourine that adds a great gypsy edge to the rock; live though, it falls into the ever growing stable of Kasabian-style music. Loser incorporates an electro twang to the vocals, an interesting and so far isolated example of it tonight. The Wynell's don't look very pleased though on stage, despite their loud entrance. Calling on the mysterious off stage technicians for “more guitar” and on the audience to get more involved, before pounding more indie rock out into the gradually more responsive crowd. Although their special guest (Tim) on the trumpet caused quite a stir with his presence on stage, (always unusual to see brass), although at times he tended to get lost in the rock of the set. One of the slower tunes from the EP “Music To Drink Lager To” is Dying Along With The Day, the next song, a very atmospheric and deep song, but tonight lost some of its melancholic elements; in a live performance however....this definitely worked well! As the crowd get more interested, a cover of the classic Park Life is unleashed, with a fair amount of laddish participation from the crowd as a result. This kind of music is what The Wynells are good at, producing more and more indie rock and locking the crowd into another testosterone filled shout along with Do You Want More? and 28 Thousand Days. The Wynells rode the tide of excitement tonight and even made some extra waves with their ambitious, but slightly ubiquitous Indie music.

Arkham Karvers make their entrance in a sea of darkness, made even eerier by the song Hush by Bedouin Soundclash, one of the Karvers' biggest influences. Shadows lurk around on stage while the spooky music continues, until eventually beginning with one of their new songs Ribbons, very effectively hanging on the last notes of Hush. Ribbons toes the line in terms of Arkham Karvers style of music, lilting, reggae/ska indie, perpetuated by crests of high guitar notes and oceans of bass. The crowd obviously enjoy it, pressing forward to the stage more than for any other band tonight. The band progress with one of their more recent songs, Circles, guitarist Greg Smith teasing out a great guitar riff until the rest of the band interject, creating a great bouncing rhythm and then transforming into a heavier, rock tune following Dave Gash's scream. A fan favourite next with Alaska, an upbeat reggae song guaranteed to get the crowd moving, Arkham Karvers not wasting any of the great energy stacked up by the previous bands. A couple more new songs on display, the band seemingly wanting to play their full repertoire and elaborate on relatively old ones, Diamonds carrying a lot more noise and hitting much, much harder. Straight out of the meatier Diamonds and on to another new song, this time Faces For Traces, a slower speed, but still adhering to the Karvers' trademark sound, although the distanced vocals don't really have the same eerie effect live as they do on their recorded version; still a great addition to the limited edition discs being distributed by the ever enthusiastic Greg, a collection of all the Karvers' recorded songs to date, available for tonight only. Simple lyrics, innuendo and a sing song campfire chorus: Monopoly ticks all these boxes, beginning with a soft verse without drums or bass, relying on the vocals of Dave, broken up by his laughing, giving the end of the evening a relaxed mood, the perfect scene for arm swaying and the audience singing to each other. It's not just the end though, as Arkham, a song used in the past as an introductory tune, makes its customary appearance, ambiguous lyrics about lies surfacing and floating on the rolling, deep bass. Arkham sounds different tonight though, probably because of drummer Josh's inclusion of more crashing symbols, elevating the indie rock to a rougher, harder level. To end, there's another great crowd pleasure, Leeches and Fingernails, very similar to Monopoly in its simplistic chorus, but with a lower tone.

Words by Chris Cooper
Photos by Mickelmas Youngus