Dutch Uncles / Before Machines at Auntie Annies
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Another night, another gig, and another empty venue, at least to begin with. When Before Machines take the stage, there are more people on-stage than in the audience, a sorry state of affairs in a city supposedly buzzing on live (and local) music after the glitz and glamour recently.
Of course, there are reasons for this: the early start time (to accommodate the necessity of having a club night afterwards), the (according to reports floating around) extremely busy gigs happening elsewhere and - that old favourite - the economy, and it all adds up to an empty venue. Thankfully for the morale of the lads, a few other punters arrive during their set of math-pop-rock, and small numbers mean that the on-stage banter can be specifically directed from band-member to audience-member and back.
The riffs and gritted teeth of 鈥楤etter Than Mine鈥 give way to the poppier 鈥業 Don鈥檛 Want To Runaway鈥, which could easily be from local luminaries Two Door Cinema Club. Their love of a hook, and curves rather than angles, distances them from most contemporary math-rock, but they share that genre鈥檚 love of rhythms (and yelps). With luck those who鈥檝e arrived late will be disappointed for missing out on the whole set. They should be.
Dutch Uncles are a hotly-tipped outfit from Manchester, currently creating a bit of a buzz among the media, and as such this, in theory, could be one of those 鈥業 was there鈥 gigs. With piano a key instrument, this group (although the impression is of the band supporting the front-man rather than a complete entity), bring a bit of eccentricity to the stage. Musically there are obvious comparisons with Sparks and Hercules & Love Affair (鈥楲ittle Space鈥 in particular seems very remix friendly), but the quirkiness is always there. Indeed, it鈥檚 very 鈥楳anc鈥, the jerky movements and eccentricity of front-man Duncan Wallis are an amalgam of the likes of Ian Curtis and Morrissey, while the dance elements recall house music of Chicago, Detroit and New York, with guitars reminiscent of The Strokes. New track 鈥楩ester鈥 鈥 鈥淵ou can make your own jokes about Uncles and Fester鈥 in the words of our charity shop trouser-wearing front-man 鈥 is very Hot Chip without being explicitly dance-floor, and 鈥楧oppleganger鈥 recalls the euphoria of the late, forgotten Clor.
Thankfully it鈥檚 gotten busier from earlier on, but it鈥檚 hard to say if there鈥檚 something really here or not. Musically there鈥檚 a bit of the magpie here, with different ideas being borrowed and put together, but at the minute there aren鈥檛 enough of them to sustain the full set.
William Johnston
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