Alright the Captain!, Beyond This Point Are Monsters and You Judas played at The Chameleon on Tuesday 9 March 2010
Reviewed for LeftLion.co.uk
The Chameleon played host to the launch of Beyond This Point Are Monsters and Alright The Captain!’s joint EP release, and although admittedly it’s pretty hard to get a good crowd of Nottinghamites out on a dreary Tuesday night – even for a kicking evening of metal, post-rock and very loud noises – it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Kicking off this evening of noise, noise, math-rock and more noise were frenetic Derby riffers You Judas, whose set was, well, noisy. In a good way. The gig may have been somewhat sparsely attended but that mattered not to these boys. They filled the room with a dense wall of crunching metal that wavered between slow-driving post-rock and frantic, discordant madness, and ended on a demonic waltz in 3/4 time.
Following them was the ambient post-rock haze that emanated from Beyond This Point Are Monsters, who stand somewhere between the calmer turns of 65daysofstatic and the livelier elements of Explosions In The Sky. They make up for their lack of a lead vocalist with the wonderfully lyrical feel of their intertwining lead guitar melodies, with intricate, sporadic time changes kept in check by stellar drumming. Even though their lead guitarist had to do a runner from the venue before the end of their last song (a note on Zig Zag bus tickets: good value for money, a bit crap for late-night EP launches!) they played through an articulate set of rhythmically and melodically complex, carefully sculpted post-rock tunes.
Last up were Alright The Captain!, who as well as producing an unholy amount of noise for a three-piece were on top form despite the arguably low audience turnout. They churned out an impressive set of intricately constructed yet undeniably ferocious tunes. Complex guitar work dripping with double-hand-tapping, thumping, chest pounding bass and fast paced, twisting, turning time changes that would make your head spin, all wrapped up in a crashing, jagged metallic blanket. I waited all set for the tune that had stuck in my mind from my previous encounters with the Captain, the absurdly named Honey Badger, and was not disappointed as they dove into the track headfirst at the end of their set. Their songs have a habit of sounding like 4 or five tracks melded together into one, but in a cohesive and coherent way that keeps the audience on their toes and the casual head-bopper with neck ache.
I left the Chameleon’s loft with that oh-so-familiar ringing in my ears and rolled onto the tram, my appetite for complex, brain-melting rock satiated for the week.
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