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COG Review - 12/3/10 (Grammatics/Work/Our Lost Infantry)

Club Night Review

Friday 12^th March at the Lexington

Bands: Grammatics, Work, Our Lost Infantry

Danny Hilfiger (no relation) fidgets in his ropes. The knots are well-tied, he can barely move. His blindfold is suddenly, roughly removed. He smelt the smoke, but now he can see there are two sources – a cigarette still alight in an ashtray, and a cigarette in the fat suited man’s fingers. He gasps as his mouth is freed from the stinking scarf they gagged him with. ‘You know, I’m not an animal, despite my reputation,’ says the suited man.  ‘I don’t harm people after my own heart. So tell me, what do you know of this massive indie music community growing all over the country?’

‘Not much,’ replies Danny.

‘Have you heard of the Grammatics? Lovely band from Leeds.’

‘No.’

‘Hmm. How about Our Lost Infantry, nearer to home.’

‘I’ve never heard of them.’

‘Well how about Work then?’ the suited man rises, agitated, ‘You’ve must’ve heard of Work, they’ve been gigging around the West End for a while now.’

Danny shakes his head.

 

As they throw his corpse in the acid after the nine hours of beatings and anal rape, how unfortunate it is that he didn’t go to the Lexington for a COG gig instead of, on a whim, deciding to investigate the alleyways of Willesden Green for signs of urban foxes. This particular night would have served him well, as by sheer coincidence all the bands mentioned by the fat suited man were playing.

 

First on were Our Lost Infantry. There is an increasingly-used phrase to describe this more emotive, piano-led kind of indie, and that is Melodramatic Popular Song. It is now well-established as a sub-genre, of which there are many fine exponents in the underground. While Our Lost Infantry are not at the level of, say, the more piquant and mellower Gadsdens, their melodic style, with a hint of punchy rock, stands up well to scrutiny.

 

They played passionate, polished songs sung by a skilled vocalist. Their performance was strong and earnest, but amongst all this good stuff was the impression they’re akin to an aged footballer – their minds are more capable than their bodies. As Our Lost Infantry’s relatively simple musicianship improves, and as they mix the ambition of their development with the ear for great hooks they already have, they’ll flourish from a good indie band to a great one. As it is, creating pop music that remains pleasant through its predictability and still occasionally surprises you is still no mean feat.

 

It’s been said before, and it’ll be said again. This band was good, that band was nice, but then came Work and blew them out the water. If Indie was a bowl of shit, Work would be Toilet Duck. They are becoming the standard-bearers for London’s indie scene. If you listen to a lot of new, up-and-coming indie bands, it is sometimes difficult to rate them properly. There are more average than good bands, and overexposure can lead to a lowering of expectations (and therefore standards). At the very least, to a mind easily led, it would lead to confusion as to where the benchmark for quality really lies.

 

Work cleanse the palette. Their style and quality smack of that most rarefied of attributes that all bands crave – class. Many bands can craft a song to sound powerful, but only bands of a certain class make them sound effortlessly so; thunderous and driving yet dulcet and beautiful. Such memorable songs as ‘Brave’, ‘Make Your Move’, ‘Puzzle Pieces’ and new track ‘Run For Cover’ contributed to a breathless performance. Work are a truly exceptional band, whose continued obscurity is as perplexing as why people tolerate the smell of their own farts, but can’t abide the smell of others’.

 

The unenviable task to follow them was taken up by headliners Grammatics, a Leeds foursome with a cellist. The cello is contemporary indie’s instrument du jour, but with the Grammatics it’s used integrally, as a base to the songs rather than as a gimmick. The effeminate front man Owen Brinley held the stage well with a posture that would out-camp Frankie Howard, as they rocked their atmospheric, fustian pop sound.

 

But are they good or bad? So far this review can go either way. Let’s clarify things. If Radiohead started before grunge, and were influenced more by New Order than REM, they would sound like this (minus Yorke’s distinctive vocals). The most striking feature of the Grammatics is their ability to make it look so easy. The most difficult thing in indie today is to create marketable music that’s also distinctive and memorable for all the good reasons. Grammatics have basically decided they’ll just do that straight away, for all their songs, and worry about other things instead. The natural talent they possess, primarily in the songwriting, borders on the insane.

 

With their bombastic flights occasionally breaking down to heavy atmospheric rocking, they’re the band Muse will be in two albums’ time. They were exceptional on the night, and proved that the media’s fawning over them was justified. They capped off another great night at the Lexington for Club COG. Do yourself a favour, and check it out next time. Or you might end up in a vat of fluorosulfuric acid after having been the sex-parcel that the heavies all passed around.

 

Muhammad Odeh