Did I mention that I missed Swansea Sound’s live debut – two years ago last month – by barely half an hour? How I turned up at The Continental in Preston one August bank holiday weekend afternoon to spot them loaded up with guitar cases and what-have-you, headed for their van? Oh, I did. Well, I can put that to bed now, because I finally caught them on stage this week.
And while it’s an odd thing to say when they have such a rich indie history between them, they ain’t ‘alf come on since they were born out of lockdown (for some reason after writing that, I have Fred Wedlock and ‘The Oldest Swinger in Town’ in my head, and apologise for sharing that earworm), as proven by newly released second LP, Twentieth Century. But we’ll get on to them later.
Domestic priorities and M61/M60/A6 road shenanigans meant I turned up at The Talleyrand expecting to have missed openers Oh Hippo, but teething problems with the PA meant I arrived in plenty of time, the stage times scribbled out and recalculated.
I tend to find the bigger the band, the better the entertainment at this Levenshulme locale, and it’s always fun to see personnel lined up in at least two rows. And in this case, it looked a little cramped up there for a six-piece on another stifling night the closest you were to the front.
How can I describe Oh Hippo? There’s a question. My initial thought on walking through was that Jack Black (I soon revised that to Nativity’s Mr Poppy) and Gruff Rhys had joined a commune. But what a band they proved, the nervous energy and smiles on the faces of the performers somewhat contagious. I was initially getting a 21st century take on Helen and the Horns meets Twa Toots vibe, but then they went elsewhere, a prime example being the kind of wonky electronica unleashed on their rather splendid single, ‘Drunk in Town’ (available digitally via Bandcamp here).
They soon warmed to their task, in-house technical gremlins allayed, vocalist/guitarist Lydia Walker, lead guitarist David McFarlane and keyboard player Becky Thomas leading by example out front, the harmonies rather splendid across the board when the sound was on their side, textured layers often giving something of an ethereal feel.
Then came Swansea Sound’s Parisienne labelmates Special Friend, namely Erica Ashleson (drums, vocals) and Guillaume Siracusa (guitar, vocals), and while techie dilemmas similarly tested this impressive ‘noise indie pop duo’ (their description), they absolutely shone.
Skep Wax co-boss Rob Pursey pondered after their memorable set, ‘How do two people make such a beautiful and complex noise? I don’t know… and I’ve seen them twice.’ They were about to rejoin the headliners in Cardiff, Carmarthen and Bristol before returning to France, no doubt winning over new audiences as they went, and we’re talking a school of lo-fi packing a real punch, full of melancholic twists and turns, the poppier touches bolstered by occasional forays into an effective use of distortion amid some gorgeous harmonies. Think The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub or The Wedding Present gone Gallic (Les Têtes de Citron, peut être, seeing as Cadeau de Mariage has already been taken), Erica‘s voice kind of how I hoped Dido would go (not so random as you might think, seeing as there is that French link) – she may have sold far less records, but I’d have loved her music far more.
There were a couple of times when they struggled, Guillaume having a bit of a ‘mare with his guitar (Swansea Sound’s Amelia and Bob stepping up to help while he switched). But that made it all the more real. I think his inner perfectionist insisted on starting a couple of songs afresh midway through, but it worked for me as it was. Besides, Hendrix at Monterey in ’67 just said, ‘Yes, I know I missed a verse, don’t worry,’ and cracked on.
A little background? Special Friend came together between Paris and Montreuil in 2018, American native Erica meeting Guillaume at a concert in Paris, looking to find a studio where she could practise learning drums, Guillaume offering to play guitar, their first compositions created within four months, their debut EP released on four French indie labels, first album Ennemi Commun following in 2021.
How do they describe themselves? Well, with the help of Google Translate, this is about ‘Bringing out a lot of emotions from a little… and just the right amount of strangeness.’ That sounds about right, and again in Rob’s words, ‘They feel like three-dimensional objects, impossible to pin down, endlessly inventive and enchanting.’ He’s not wrong either. And while musically, the label mentions hints of Yo La Tengo, Helvetia, Galaxie 500, Duster, Electrelane or The Pastels, and I feel a need to throw Stereolab in the mix (albeit without the electronica), they’re very much their own bete noire, so to speak.
But as I all too often add, don’t take my word for it, snap up the 10-song Wait Until the Flames Come Rushing In and find out for yourself. Tres magnifique.
Then came the headliners, again somewhat hard pushed to find space on that stage. But it worked. Recent interviews here with Fliss Kitson (The Nightingales) and John Robb (The Membranes) brought up the fact that when you don’t have so many of what are recognised as hits, you can perhaps be more ruthless with set choices. And this was a prime example, all bar the first and last songs drawn from latest platter, Twentieth Century. But that worked too… not least as I’d lived and breathed that record this past week or so. It was like greeting a newish friend.
From the introductory ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Void’, their Buzzcocksy debut LP opener, we were ears and eye putty in their considerably talented hands. And while there’s no Catrin Saran James in the Swansea Sound live set-up – as she often is on the records – Hue and Amelia have a winning vocal duo dynamic, bandmates Bob Collins (guitar), Ian Button (drums) and Rob Pursey (bass) pitching in on the backing vox, to great effect.
You may have seen my review of the new record, so I’ll spare you a repeat, but ‘I Made a Work of Art’ sounded very Jilted John in that Manchester setting, while ‘Keep Your Head On’ – Hue and Amelia in Terry Hall and Katrina Phillips territory – sounded very much like the cult anthem it truly could be if there was any justice (there isn’t, of course). All hail the power of the accompanying video too, seeing as I expected the band to shake around a bit during the chorus, upset by turbulence.
‘Seven in the Car’ quickly became something of a favourite at WriteWyattUK HQ, and shone on the night, while ‘Markin’ It Down’ – a song I reckon Robert Forster would gladly claim as his own – was everything I hoped it would be live, its added Kleenex, Can, Fall and Sonic Youth drum, keyboard and guitar flourishes everything I hoped they would be live, Bob in particular gloriously hamming it up.
‘Punish the Young’ is another song where Terry H meets Hue (not far from Levenshulme station). And while we’re talking geographical influences, ‘Far Far Away’, with its ‘Epiphanic one-note solos’, sounded all the more Pete Shelleyesque on the night, while ‘I Don’t Like Men in Uniform’ provided the perfect lead into the LP’s title track, the band at full pelt now and ‘Twentieth Century’ another highlight of the night, as I kind of suspected it would be, Hue and Amy’s interlinking voices and Bob, Rob and Ian’s feverish noodling somewhat sublime.
Where could they go from there? Well, ‘Pack the Van’ was a perfect choice, its wistful nostalgic premise just what was needed on a late summer’s night when the heat and stage lights poured in and a smallish but appreciative love crowd smiled and thought back on good times, while conjuring up hope of a fair few more to come.
And talking of looking back, there was just about time for Rob’s tribute to Hue and Amelia’s past in one final bout of group therapy, that celebratory air further explored in passion-arousing closing number ‘The Pooh Sticks’, past and present very much in tune, the best of all times nailed. No word of a lie.
For this website’s appraisal of Swansea Sound’s Twentieth Century and links to past Swansea Sound and Catenary Wires-related feature-interviews and reviews, head here.
Swansea Sound visit Rough Trade, Bristol, today (September 17th, tickets), then visit St Leonards’ The Piper (September 29th, tickets), Paris Popfest (September 30th, tickets), Leeds’ Wharf Chambers (October 13th, tickets), Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Cumberland Arms (October 14th, tickets), Brighton/Hove’s The Brunswick (October 27th, tickets), and London’s The Water Rats (October 28th, tickets).
For the latest on Swansea Sound, check out their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, and keep in touch via the Skep Wax Records website and their Bandcamp pages.
For more on Special Friend, visit https://www.facebook.com/specialfriendband and https://www.instagram.com/specialfriendmusic/. And for more on Oh Hippo, head to https://www.instagram.com/hippo_oh_hippo/.
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