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| MISS BLACK AMERICA + REUBEN + KINESIS 14.02.03 BRISTOL LOUISIANA OK,OK, I retract any previous statement I may have made concerning Miss Black American being a worthless bunch of pansies. For, they are, as MBA #2, not. Seymour Glass has sacked his band and instead hired a bunch of bona fide Rock Monsters. And one does not use the term Rock Monster lightly. A Rock Monster, that anti-social, hairy and often far intoxicated beyond human limits beast, would never be seen dead in a lame indie band. Thus the MBA back catalogue is beefed up and raring to go tearing things down. Best of all, Semour’s Richey Manic pretensions have been thrown to the gutter like some cheap tiara, well, if he had continued to ponce about on stage like something that should be stuck on top of a Christmas tree, his new band mates would’ve most likely have torn him limb from limb. Rock Monsters don’t do ‘girly’. They beat ‘girly’ to a horrific pulpy mess, spit on the remains then go to an all you can eat steak house. And so I’m indeed very happy that MBA #2 don’t suck, and that standing through two support bands might be fun for a change. That brings us onto Reuben, who had that song about being scared of dogs or police or whatever played on MTV2 a fair bit, and that new one, about not hanging around with girls. Ruben are emo-core, that means they take out their fears and frustration about girls on their guitars, making them into loud, harsh rock songs. The aforementioned ‘Lets Stop Hanging Out’ gets a big whoop and a great deal of flailing about from the audience. Despite some string snapping guitar troubles, Reuben pull a decent set, for those that like post-punk angular thrashings that won’t really change the world, and personally I do like Reuben very much. If MBA and Reuben cause a storm in the Louisiana, then Kinesis wreak an F5 tornado, and for those who didn’t see ‘Twister’ that’s the most bastard big tornado you can get. Hell, I’m prone to exaggeration, but these kids really do blow me away. They’re young and fresh and eager, and deliver intelligent - if a little formulaic songs - with a knock out punch, and that’s about all the ingredients I need in a band right now. They don’t try and be cool, they don’t pose or wear a style, it’s just straightforward honest Joe rock, no frills, just loud thrills. Although my serious drinking on the night seems to have debilitated my memory of the set, and now all I’m left with is a few adjectives, instead of a paragraph or two, I do clearly remember Kinesis are undeniably excellent live and they are one swell band indeed. They have just finished recording their debut album, produced by Manics and Idlewild man Dave Eringa, it looks set to be one hell of a record, and judging by their live performance I imagine it’ll be akin to a swarm of schizoid bumble bees in a jam jar. Rachel. “And They Obey”, the new single from Kinesis, is out now. |