Review with videos ......... Think of some words to describe The Underground-exciting and eclectic will do for starters. Underground 55 was a mix of jazz from Topao,poprock from Chochukmo and Thinking Out Loud and and postpunk shoegaze from The Yours. I guess most indie music fans wouldn't think of jazz as a form of alternative music although at one time it certainly was.Think Charlie Parker,Miles Davis.Anyway,it was an interesting opening set from Topao,a jazz fusion band with some excellent big band numbers played in a classic style.For such a big band ,they had an incredibly tight sound,held together by their guitarist and bandleader and they gave the opening slot an upbeat mood.
This was my second chance to see Chochukmo and I like them more and more.They have an appealing stage prescence in their all-pink outfits and the music is also upbeat,and fun.They started off in a blitz of jagged yet melodic guitar and vocals.Guitar riffs are jagged and energetic but swiftly blend into harmonious interludes.Their songs are written in a freeflowing style,with excellent harmonies but this high-energy,jangly indie band seem happiest when they're rocking out.Indiepop but with enough rough edges to endear themselves to most alternative music fans. Noisy jangly,melodic indie along the lines of The Fratellis.I loved the whole set but my favourite was 'Strawberry'. The band have an EP scheduled for this year 'God saveChairman Mao'-No, God save Chochukmo!
Chochukmo live at Underground
Thinking Out Loud almost put too much into their set and look as if they're still finding their style.The band play raw and gritty rock with a jazzy feel and some flowing lead guitar.Chris B of Underground fame leads the band well on vocals and rhythm guitar.Songs like 'Moving On ' and 'People' were classic rock while 'Rock and Roll Machine' with the sax player's anguished vocals hinted at something darker,followed by 'Fire' a cover of the classic Jimi Hendrix song . 'Wedding Song 'sounded romantic but was more like the wedding scene in Tarantino's 'Kill Bill ' in mood.The band finished their set with the more upbeat indiepop of 'I'm Gonna Be Famous' and the more garage rock sounds of 'Sex Junkie'.The band played a rocking set that reminded me of The Pretenders and the B52s.
Thinking Out Loud at The Cavern
The Yours are one of the best bands on the Hong Kong indie music scene.
The Yours at The Underground
Their sets are always different,intriguing and apart from Jack (vocals,guitar) and Nic (vocals,bass),there may be a variety of band members from show to show. Their music is rooted in the shoegaze sounds of Creation label bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine,although its easy to detect influences from 80s bands like The Cure and Joy Division. Just like those band's The Yours are dark and introspective .Tonight's set was excellent,dark ,droney, reverby shoegaze with lots of moody vocals and a new version of 'Black Curse' by Nic.However experimental the songs were ,the band always have a tight,rhythmic core in their sound and songs always build to a climax.The band never play the same set on any gigs so it's always exciting to see their shows.You must check out this band live if you love the darker side of indie especially 80s bands like The Cure,My Bloody Valentine..
