SIMIAN and 'The Church of Simian' at
Brixton Mass 2nd March 2002
There was so much going on at this club-night-cum-mini-festival that it's difficult to know where to begin. Three bands in the live room (SIMIAN, MINOTAUR SHOCK, CHINESE BURN) and many many DJs in the other room. As far as the DJs were concerned, the likes of CAPITOL K and the SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO were the risk-takers, not afraid to throw all sorts of interesting and odd stuff in, whereas ALISON GOLDFRAPP and headliner DAVID HOLMES played more uptempo funky stuff. Not content with single handledly liberating the beret from years of laughing stock as a male accessory (yes, he's wearing it tonight!) Holmes succeeded in making everyone dance.
I reckon that I got to see a bit of everything, but the only band I really gave my full attention to were SIMIAN. I hadn't heard CHINESE BURN before and I reckon that their music isn't best suited to a packed club on Saturday. First impressions suggest a mix of country and soul not far away from what Morcheeba and Lambchop are doing, and music that probably sounds great in a smaller venue in front of a more appreciative crowd. MINOTAUR SHOCK go down better and are a totally different live proposition than the laptop-based act I encountered at ROTA last summer. In fact, I think this may have been their live debut with this line-up, and if that's the case it was a fair success. Their album 'Chiff Chaffs and Willow Warblers' crept up on a lot of people when it came out at the end of 2001, and if you liked it's mix of folkiness and electronica you would have liked tonight's show.
This is also my first encounter with SIMIAN and by the time they take the stage (about 1.45am ???) I'm sure I'm not in full possession of all my critical faculties! The material they play from their debut album ('Chemistry is what we are') actually translates well to their live set-up, but i think overall they leant more towards twisted psychedelic harmonies than their more electronic moments, which is fine by me. Even if you heard 'Mr Crow' and passed it off as a pleasant pop song, just a glance at the sleeve would have made you aware of a more eccentric side to the band. That eccentric side is out in force, with some odd visuals (a lot of antiquated stuff, including one pic of the band dressed in Victorian clothes) and someone dressed in a gorilla suit!
Back to the music, and it makes perfect sense for Simian to bring their own club night to an end like this. They don't quite fit with what has gone before, but perversely there's a bit of everything in their music. The psychedelic blow-outs remind me of archive footage of Velvet Underground or Pink Floyd, maybe even the Stone Roses more recently. Whatever your conclusions, Simian are a rock band willing to take risks by putting on an event like this. The fact that it was such an eclectic (yet still fun!) night out is a bit of a result.
