That Fucking Tank @ Brudenell Social Club
By Mike Bradbury
The monthly Packhorse night, Leeds On The Bone had moved to the significantly bigger Brudenell Social Club for a bumper edition. Good job too, as by the climax of the night the place was pretty much heaving. Unfortunately I had to skip the end and miss headliners, This Et Al, but from the chit chat in the crowd they sounded promising, although they had some tough acts to follow.
It Takes Bridges kicked off events early on. The band have moved on from their previous Radiohead-influenced sound to become more Nirvana meets a succinct Mars Volta. The music was more intelligent than the usual bash-it-out offerings, in particularly some clever bass that brought texture to the songs. Whilst a catchy tune is probably not top of the list for Bridges, their stand out track, Braggart, proves that they have the ability to infuse some hooks and clever lyrics into their work which may bring them a wider audience.
I'd never heard of Wild Beasts previously, which is surprising, because love or hate them, they are certainly the kind of band people talk about. I overheard a pretty apt description from the crowd as "the band from Back To The Future, fronted by Kate Bush", my thoughts were of Jeff Buckley gone ballroom, so hopefully they both paint similar picture! Certainly their old school rhythms set them apart form other bands, although this did clash somewhat with the unique vocal style. They struck me as incredibly French, though I am assured they are local lads.
The Somatics were easily the most accessible band of the night. The three piece played melodic indie, with harmonies reminiscent of Teenage Fanclub. Whilst hardly original, they were more than pleasing on the ear.
Downdime were a bit mundane for my own tastes, although they seemed pretty popular with the audience. Coming across as a rocked up Belle & Sebastian, with vocals reminiscent of Placebo's Brian Molko.
If the crowd were up for the other bands, they practically moved to hero worship for That Fucking Tank. A short but blistering set was greeted with plenty of enthusiasm from the Bone faithful. For those who have yet to check them out, The Tank are an instrumental duo hammering out ingenious rock with only drums and guitar. They remain the best band in Leeds by a country mile, and that's from a guy who prizes good melody and intelligent lyrics over much else. They even wore minimalist Wolf and Reindeer costumes - what's not to love?!
