Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Fuck Buttons - Ribs Out
Just recently I was trawling through my own personal myspace page, which incidentally I don't use that often. I noticed that I had a few new friend requests. On inspection there where the few obvious spammers and a few actual people, but, there was one particular bands music profile which stuck out!
That band where called The Vouch. I thought at first, what a cool name, so I accepted the add.
A few weeks passed and I began using myspace page a little more, to stay in touch with friends. I then began noticing I was getting harassed with messages, constant bulletins and quite frankly it was bothering me. I made the decision that I was going to block them from my friends list. So I proceeded to click on there profile for the first time, a moment I wont, forget may I add. A huge sound passed through my small pc speakers and monitor. A soft broken melodic voice and piercing lead guitar followed. With nothing short of breath taking drumming!
I couldn't believe I had ignored this for so long! I was robbing myself of a brilliant experience! The tracks on the page where comparative to those of a certain Mr Lennon and McCartney and a Mr Davies. Very raw very British and very catchy.
Now I must say that I have removed myself from the current music scene, as quite frankly it is tripe! I spend my time listening to the Beatles, the Kinks, the Stones and any bands which have really stood the test of time! So I was quite taken a back by the ability of a small town unsigned band! So I did a little more digging, compared them to other local unsigned acts, nothing came close! This is why I urge you to listen to The Vouch.
They are a 5 piece from extremely humble beginnings. They originate from Cannock which believe me is a place best wiped off the map, voted 5th worst place to live in the country! Its a former mining town, and with no intention of offending people there, it has become a breeding ground for zombies born and breed to work underground. There music is often dreamy mixing facts with fiction to create a real experience, when listening!
After really getting into the bands recordings I decided to make the journey to one of there live shows. They appear regularly at the Rock Cafe Cannock but this was not really a venue I wanted to visit. So on closer inspection of their gig guide I found a gig at the dirty south club London, the band had arranged coach travel. So I decided to get in touch and get down there. They where due to support a dj set from former oasis guitarist 'Bonehead', so I thought it would be a good night.
The Day Of The Gig
The coach arrived at 4 o'clock on a Saturday to pick us up from the dreaded 'Cannock bus station'. I hoped on to find it full of drunken teenagers and thought what am I doing. I sat at the front alone for around an hour, before a chubby young lad introduced himself to me. He walked to the front of the coach, carling cans in hand one of which he passed to me, and said "Ort, I'm Beaver."
The trip on the coach took around 4 hours and was extremely wild, not for the faint hearted. I felt really sorry for the coach driver!
We arrived in London at around 8.30pm local time and went into the venue. I was very surprised to see the band just instantly mingle with there friends and fans and drinks where exchanged immediately. Time slid by as I spent most of the time with my new acquaintances ,'Beaver' , watching the other support acts. Several pints of Guiness later and toilet breaks, the band arrived on stage. With the front man and bass player tuning in to the dirty pretty things anthem 'Bang Bang You're Dead'. They immediately threw there instruments to the floor and jumped into the growing crowd to dance and....... well......... go metal really.
Was this a ploy to create mayhem I'm unsure, but it did work! They took to the stage in a venue, that you wouldn't imagine would have much of an atmosphere....... but they seemed to create there own. Track after track of exhilarating music, the crowd loving it, with some minor stage invasions.
All in all I sum up that The Vouch are a must see!
Josh Smithyman
