Issue 6 / 7 DEC
Featured: PICTURES OF YOU / SHOCKED ELEVATOR FAMILY / SCC

Finally, not only do I get to put on a gig for Shocked Elevator Family, but I get to review them also. Be warned, much bum-rimming is going to be had right here. But first, let's have a look at our first act…

Pictures of You was up first – a one man band known to his Mom as Michael Hutchinson. With the help of his buddies Mr. Drum Machine (with minimal keyboards) and his trusty pal Mr. Gramophone he effectively pours his guts out all over the floor for you. His nervy-sounding vocals bring to mind Bright Eyes and the guitar/synth melodies could inspire a lazy comparison like Postal Service, but Pictures of You is really something else. I cant imagine how much balls It must take for a non-cunt like Mike here to get up in-front of a crowd and sing these naked, brutally honest songs like he does. I've never witnessed any local band capture 'that Morrissey feeling' so well before - that feeling you might get in some packed-out indie club of 'I should be enjoying this' but for some reason you cant help but hate every person in there. If this rings a familiar chord to you, then check him out immediately!

Due to Wave Machines last minute cancellation, the only band left to review would be Shocked Elevator Family. I could go on forever about this band, so it's just as well.
SEF have basically been going as long as SCC, and have, shall we say 'appreciated each other' for most of that time. It's a mutual musical love affair.
But I wont let that hinder my judgment of them – tonight's performance was far from perfect – guitars were out of tune, the occasional drumbeat was off, blah de-blah de-blah…If you want to check them out yourself go here, but if you want to take my word for it…

This was only the second gig I think they have done after a year-long hiatus (Singer Bryn had been studying in Norway) and already I can't wait to see how things might go from here. Half the set list was new (to the public) and the sound, as if by magic, was perfect for their subtle brand of early modest mouse-type Lo-Fi math-pop. Bryn's trademark growling, kindasorta-rapping vocals against that backdrop of frail melodies and rhythm is still one of my favorite sounds in the world. Lyrically and in terms of structure, Bryn seems to write on a different planet to the rest of us. His verses are full of irony and comedy, yet as if to be hinting at something more serious. From the older songs you'll catch random phrases like "You had me like a meat supreme" in 'Eurocourt' and then something along the lines of "Please don't spread your legs…Honey!" in 'Bloodass' – Phrases that don't seem to relate to one another yet make perfect sense to the song as a whole. He claims to be influenced by hip hop but if he is, he must be so white that he's gone all the way past being white to being black again or something.
Ralph's guitars and Dave's bass lines are so un-together that they go together perfectly, resulting in these addictive melodies that poke out at you like annoyingly familiar songs that you've never actually heard before.
A lot of this new material supposedly forms a new concept EP they are working on about a cartoon-like married couple going through a divorce. If I wasn't already in a band myself, I swear I would go managerial on their ass and put my life and money into helping this band get the recognition they deserve, a record deal and some chromatic guitar tuners. Some one sort it out!