The Sheffield Scenester

The Harley just at the top of West Street is laden with rustic charm consisting as it does of a veritable menagerie of furnishings, cosy dark corners, even the brand names of beers are scribbled on the pump handles. Amidst this dimly lit but warm interior were four bands waiting to showcase their talents as part of an Xray Horse anniversary de-construction.

The first band of the night was Roman Android – a four piece consisting of the usual guitars, drum and the multi-talented Chris Hill (which was entertainment in itself as you watched him swap instruments and sing with confidence and ease!) Their first song ‘Back in Motion’ sounded quite unusual... it had quite a dark, haunting feel...also as if it was a combo of 2 songs put together. I suppose it reminded me of the Sisters of Mercy quite a lot...which then sent my mind back to the times I occasionally used to go to Sheffield’s The Limit club on West St....with a Goth friend. Their second track ‘Unfinished Business’ had a great intro and with the spiralling guitars that later kicked in, really made the song an excellent concoction of Indie/Goth/Rock. This band quite happily sent me back to the 80’s alternative scene...Their third track ‘Chernobyl’ had the catchiest lyrics where I found myself joining in, and Stef the drummer was getting so engrossed in his playing he even ended up losing his stick half way through! ‘The Fever’ had a very futuristic intro, so that instantly grabbed the attention of the increasing crowd who were entering The Harley for the X-ray Horse night. Their set had a very unique sound, which I think is a real breath of fresh air for the local music scene, and as it says on their MySpace... “2010's going to be a killer for us so keep your eyes and ears open!”.....quite frankly I agree!

In complete contrast to this; Nottingham based punk band Nephu Huzzband, kick starting their set with a musical introduction before blasting us with ‘Worn out Minds’. This was going to be one seriously loud, fast set and in true modern punk tradition they didn’t disappoint - bearing two guitars and one bass up front all making it their goal to out pogo one another and a drummer hell-bent on killing his kit. As the set progressed with one song happily giving way for the next it became fairly apparent that lead singer Tom Bentley was in his element with a vocal range that rested somewhere between a scream and a hoarse rant. To his credit though the audience definitely warmed to him as between numbers he joked with them including several cultural references; announcing the song ‘Black & White’ as “One for a cocktail party”, but come the end pointed out that “We can’t buy you a cocktail, maybe a Pot Noodle”. Announcing the song ‘Stem’ as a song about how sunflowers look nice but smell sh*t brought a laugh from the crowd but it did have the desired effect of making them listen to the music. Musically it was a no holds barred thrashing, thumping and smashing of notes until somehow somewhere they met in the middle and formed a cohesive tune for Tom to get his lyrics around. I enjoyed it and with Tom wandering out into the cowering crowd every now and then to scream in their face found this act value for money by themselves.

It was now time for The Elephant Keys...and it’s no secret that this band is one my ultimate favs....and by the looks of the now solid stage front...they are obviously a lot other people’s favs too! Without so much as a by your leave they burst straight in with ‘The Truth’ a great opening track by any standard, this was swiftly followed by my personnel favourite ‘Whatever Gets You To Sleep At Night’ – a song that firmly puts the drum kit in the driving seat. Singer and guitarist Phil Goodwin, was definitely on form tonight as he threw himself into every song with unrelenting passion, and despite the limited floor space he still managed to wrestle his guitar every which way imaginable. To be honest it doesn’t matter what tracks they play…since they’ve yet to put a foot wrong on this front, yes I have my favourites, ‘Sebastian’ especially, but they did omit ‘Nicole’ this time round which is just as good. With his brother Tommy swapping keyboard for bass they almost started duelling with fret boards in front of the bass drum – now that’s what I call real entertainment! By now Phil was so drenched in sweat that we all knew it was nearly time to wrap up the set as yet again Phil and co have raised the bar by bringing the house down.

Finally we came to the last act of the night; The Legend of the 7 Black Tentacles, an eight piece classical/experimental/alternative/hip hop group who have quite a formidable reputation. I’d already been impressed by their cellist Big Ben as he played on The Pistola Kicks gig at Weston Park Museum. By now the crowd, who were slightly more mature…were crammed so far forward that I’m sure some of the musicians were wondering if they might find someone sat on their lap before the set was finished…! With a plethora of instruments spread before them, we were treated to an opening classical track titled ‘Chamber Music’, whether this refers to a style or not I’m unsure but it did remind me of ‘Toccata and Fugue’, with an instantly recognisable rhythm overlaid with good drums and cello. Brought up (thanks to my Dad), with a smattering of classical knowledge…I actually quite liked this and the present crowd obviously felt the same, because a well deserved round of applause erupted at the climax to this number. From here on the classical tones were then given an experimental edge to it and much to my surprise…though not to the gathered hordes – a hip hop twist as vocalist V3xation joined the proceedings. I have to say sometimes…well most of the time really…if I know I’m going to review a certain band (who I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing before)…I don’t tend to look them up, I like the surprise of their live performance; and this band is definitely one of those surprises. My first observations were the vibrations across the whole room…so much so my drink managed to get itself from one side of the side board to the other! As the set unfolded it was obviously a multi-layered performance, with so many music genres carefully placed together to create the most fantastic sound possible. I suppose if like me…if you didn’t know what they are about…then think of Eminem and the Philharmonic Orchestra jammin’ together in someone’s parents garage…apart from needing a massive garage…the sound would just bang around the walls and give the most superb mixture of resonance into your ears. It’s also worth mentioning, the vocal strength of Sarah….the dramatic effect of her voice combined with V3xation really made the tracks listenable, giving the sound another edge. The sampling on Ka –Chunk! (I think it was called) blended in so well too…sometimes when a band adds a sample onto their track it often sounds so out of place…but not with this band, yet again they hit the nail on the head. I have to say, I had no idea what was to come next…the band had managed to display so much in so little time. Apart from a slight technical hitch towards the end of the set, everything ran so…I was going to say “smoothly”…but I don’t think that would be the right word…I suppose “everything ran so diversely and energetically” would be a way to describe it…?

X-ray Horse is really searching the depths of the Sheffield music scene, and finding the most talented bands available. This was one amazing night and I’ll definitely be keeping my calendar available for their next offering.

Words/Photos by Gail & Geoff Buckthorpe