Mama Scuba @ Joseph's Well
By Dave Sugden
Brazil are probably the most over-underrated Leeds band not to come from Leeds. Tonight there are times in their set which opens up the night that are literally entertainment of the highest order, and at other times they drift off into a sort of in-between world where your mind wanders and you lose focus on what they are trying to do. They open to an experimental blast of guitars and effects and for a couple of songs at least, they threaten to completely blow the place away.
Technical problems hit the guitars - well, not really the guitars just the many multitudes of effects pedals scattered around. Why they needed to spend so long changing them around I don't know, there didn't seem to be anything wrong at the beginning, and I didn't notice anything different in sound afterwards. But they did, and the set spluttered from that point onwards. A comment was made to me, that this is usual for Brazil and that they always have problems with their pedals at every gig. Is there a lesson to be learnt perhaps?
Anyway, the set comes back to life with their usual quirky, lo-fi guitar sounds triggered with "Good Girls..." then the songs fade away again before they close with quite an impressive track in "Flat Liner". Nice gimmick in holding the flat line mid-set but as was mentioned to me afterwards, they had the ideal opportunity to close their set in a blaze of glory after this but failed to take that chance. A mix and match set, not as good as when I last saw them, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves so let's not take anything away from them...they are a good band and it's nice seeing them back in Leeds tonight.
Mama Scuba are undoubtedly one of Leeds' finest bands on the circuit now. A relatively short set sees the band come out one-by-one to the opening drum beat of latest single "Pouche" - which is then delivered perfectly. By this point the impressive turnout at the Well has edged forward, and there's feet'a'tapping and heads'a'nodding aplenty. Mama Scuba are that fine edge between poppy, catchy tunes and an air of alternative guitars that just take over the whole atmosphere.
Tonight is no different. "Snow", their previous single which went into the National Charts earlier on this year, is fired mid-set from the pop-based keyboard opening to the quirkiness of the guitars - there is no argument that this is probably the best song we've heard all night, perhaps all year.
The band close with the B-side from "Snow", and I didn't see anyone who had failed to enjoy the homecoming of one of Leeds' top bands. With daily airplay on SFM, let's hope their latest single breaks through again and we have another Chart hitting track from the Scubas. They deserve it.
