No Age / Health / The Lovvers
Scala, London
August 11th, 2008
A triple bill from label/promoters Upset The Rhythm - purveyors of some fine DIY indie. First up are The Lovvers, Nottingham based punkers with all the right moves for UTR's energetic and studendish crowd. After a quick scout around the inter-cyber-webway I can't tell you much about the members of the band, but they have got a great frontman and there's more than a hint of Flipper about them.
Next comes Health - avant garde LA noise experimentalists with a reputation based on playing Live - and from the moment they start playing you can see why they've gained such kudos. The band seem right at home onstage - creating a seething cauldron of beautiful noise, listening to and playing off each other. Instruments are used as noise sources, effects boards and the band's infamous "zoothorn" are much in evidence, while furious tight drumming locks the whole thing together. Soft ethereal vocals find their way into the music along with captured loops of squalling guitar and sheets of pitch-shifted noise. Quite an experience.
A bit of a hard act to follow, and this is the unenvious task faced by duo No-Age , who seem genuinely psyched to be playing at the Scala tonight. They sound rather straightforward after the sonic battering of Health, and their use of looped sounds is much more submerged in the mix, but their charm and enthusiasm count for a lot here tonight, and the crowd are well up for it. I'm pretty sure no-one went home disappointed, but for me the highlight of the evening were Health - I'd just like to have seen them play for a little longer.
RATINGS: Health (4 stars) No-Age and The Lovvers (3 stars)
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