Yellow Stripe Nine @ Cockpit
By Danny Martin
Local showcases are always unpredictable and without pretense thus making them top reviewing candy. Occasionally rousing, sadly more than often easily forgettable and very very rarely awe-inspiring. Tonight's soiree features local pop rockers Pierpoint, 45 Revolutions and hotly whispered Leeds based outfit Yellow Stripe Nine. With the recent excellent press coverage of Leeds bands in the likes of NME would this be a night that stokes the fire of the currently blazing local scene.
Pierpoint are non-gloss pop rock at its delightful best, and therefore stunning live. A sleek ballsy performance heavily impregnated with inspired screaming guitar solos and iced with the manic onstage antics of frontman Danny Teale. Who gyrates and wails like the dashing young love child of The YYY's Karen O and Craig Nicholls. Their songs are well penned and catchy. Infusing non-complex lyrics with strong, refined melodies that leave an imprint on your mind yet never delve into the cheesy side of rock where presently a lot of bands have set up camp. Musically they are faultless, über-talented axe-man Matt Troth deserving a special mention for bleeding my ears on more than one occasion. Pierpoint confused and entertained like any opener worth their salt should, the energy and exuberance portrayed may not convert as kindly to CD as it does in a live setting but I am more than willing to be proved wrong and will keep my radar firmly fixed on them in the near future. A more than notable starter.
I knew little about 45 Revolutions when they took to the stage, and unfortunately that's just the way I would like it to stay. A far from majestic muddle of a 30 minute set which neither riveted or inspired. Musically they were evidently talented and the melodies flowed well enough together but vocally the performance was vastly lacking and with each new song sounding like the retarded offspring of the last the set imploded into one large mess. Backing vocalists can be used to remarkable harmonic effect if handled with care (see four day Hombre) 45 Revolutions however try to combine 3 contrasting voices for the majority of each song and therefore create confusion within the tunes as a whole, the lyrics and music lost amongst a sea of untidy, haphazard vocals. I hope to cross 45 Revolutions path again, and I hope to be silenced by future projects they embark. But tonight they were acutely below par.
Cast your mind and/or eyes back to my opening paragraph. So far I had encountered "occasionally rousing" in Pierpoint and the "easily forgettable" in 45 Revolutions... so could, just maybe Yellow Stripe Nine rule the veritable music roust and earn the "awe-inspiring" medal for the evening. The answer is a simple, resounding YES.
For YSN are quite inspired live. Industrious, hand-crafted tunes embellished beautifully by impassioned vocals and intelligent melodies which float around the room effortlessly. The 40-minute set gifting them ample room to air an arresting collection of urgent, infectious rock tunes.
From the offset this ambitious four piece are destined to bitchslap us all round the Cockpit, presenting the instantly hooked crowd with an array of tracks from both older releases and the relative new kid on the block "1 White Horse" which is a studio recorded 10-track demo album. Standouts include the joyous "Wind-up Clockwork Man" of which the chorus is stunningly harmonised by frontman Pete Bott and skin basher James Knox and "Pshyco Killer" which is humorous yet surly through its entirety.
YSN themselves prove they have the hunger and persona to carry this band forward. Aesthetically and emotionally they are marvelous, knowingly radiating a cheeky infectious aura bordering constantly between insanity and genius. In particular bassist Tom Booth who carries off the 60's computer geek look to striking perfection as he stumbles and cavorts across the stage. Musically too they are unique, the melodies superbly moulded together and played live with both flawless efficiency and gritty passion, the frequent tempo changes and breaks handled with ease.
They could only end the set with "Look Sharp" a raucous, dance-like-a-loony concoction of a brassy impatient beats and howling vocals. This just nicely cements the performance in the mind of every person in the room. Yellow Stripe Nine are highly accomplished and will with the right breaks establish themselves even more on the thriving local music scene. Tonight they simply kicked all arse in the building, go see them... NOW.
