SSD Night #1

Right, so a couple of days ago we had the first Superstar Destroyer night, Let's Kill Music, and we had a pretty full room- I count that as a success... (and we broke even!). In terms of bands, Adam Farnell had to pull out at the last moment due to unforseen circumstances, so Johnny stepped in and played a short set for us- highlights were 'Leaving Home' and 'Midnight Oil', as you might have guessed. Incidentally, if you want to see him Springsteen-style with a band, then come along on the 9th. 

Next was Super Star Destroyer. Uhm, I can't be objective because I play in that band, but even I know it's nonsense. Then again, I think it was a pretty good icebreaker to have a drunken American running around the crowd with a kaoss pad screaming into the mic in Japanese. Maybe. 

Third up were Black Market Serotonin- they turned out to be just as good live as they were on the record. If you need to know more, find the review of their album Something from Nothing on here (I think it's under March), because I could literally talk about this band all day. They were fucking ace, and seeing them gave off probably a similar vibe to seeing Muse in '99. In a fair world, the start of something beautiful.

Then we had Dune; kind of half indie rock, half post-rock, these guys knocked out a set of interesting tunes where one math-y guitar sat layered above tight drum riffs and synth textures, while delayed leads added to the atmosphere of the tracks. The vocals were a little hard to hear for the most part, veering between understated and matter-of-factly spoken word, but I think it's fair to see that everybody who turned up without having heard them before would have come away pleasantly surprised. It's going to be interesting to hear where they go from here, particularly with a few more gigs under their belt to hone and develop their sound. 

Finally, headlining the night were Metamusic. Timings had slipped and it being exam season the room was slowly emptying, so they didn't perhaps get the crowd they really deserved. That said, those that sacked off early may come to regret it. With 2009 being the year of the XX's breakthrough, bands like Metamusic, fusing electronica, progressive and trip hop are going to find themselves ahead of the curve in tastemaking, and I don't see any reason why this young band can't build themselves an audience here and elsewhere if they keep writing songs as good as the ones in their set tonight.

Phew. With a line-up like that it's no wonder the vibe was so good. I've long believed that Manchester is the coolest scene in the country, and it's on nights like tonight, where the most talented of the leftfield Manchester bands all share one bill that I feel vindicated in that belief.