Another great day courtesy of the Ritual Union team – we managed to get to see 13 bands for our twenty something pounds. Absolutely cracking stuff and at a good price too 😊
We didn’t know anything about The Parallels before last week but did our research and hotfooted it to Strange Brew for the first band of the festival. And we were not disappointed! The members of One Big House crew were all struck by how polished and well crafted this was. Perfect guitar pop, with gorgeous melodies. Some keyboard and trombone thrown in for good measure. Will keep our ears and eyes alert for more from this band.
We like to give some space to Bristol bands, but the Shania Twainsaw Massacre would probably have made the write-up regardless of their home town. Clearly these people are enjoying what they do, and consequently the guitars screamed and crashed around the stage. The vocal acts as a beautiful and soothing antidote the chaos around it. Although every now and then the vocals and guitars swap roles! This was a short set but definitely worthy of some more of our attention.
Mumble Tide played late in the day in Rough Trade and even though fatigue was beginning to show in the One Big House team, this certainly picked us up and made us take notice. This is a laidback and elegant sound, with a cultured vibe. Multi-layered songs with melody and changes of pace. Plenty of class to this. We really enjoyed it, certainly a lot of potential being delivered upon here, time to get involved if you haven’t already.
OK, Ok. We know we haven’t mentioned one of our present favourites My First Time yet and guess what, here it comes. Absolutely nailed it. Again. Every single time without fail. Passion, energy. Posturing, jumping, cajoling. These guys tick every box. And they don’t have any off nights either. If ‘I Wanna Sleep with a Celebrity’ isn’t the Christmas number one we’ll eat our hat (or something). Exciting and cheeky pop at its best. Band of the day.
It couldn’t have been an easy slot to play, following on from crowd favourites Getdown Services, but Gurriers (above) managed it so well they are our other band of the day. Controlled aggression and hunger were in abundance here. A busy SWX crowd responded too. The whole venue rocked and the big pit in front of the stage reflected how well this went down. If you aren’t familiar with this band then it’s a hardhitting but measured reflection of modern life, akin to Idles and High Vis. A standout set from a standout band. The LP has been on the One Big House stereo a lot since Saturday. Be good to catch them at a festival in the summer if you can. Brilliant.
One Big House 