The Mekano Set

Today's edition of NightLight will feature short bursts of Conversational Tone, and brief moments of Pigeon English.

Before I get all 'Comedy' on your 'punk bottoms' I must quickly inform you that we're second on the bill @ Concorde 2 supporting urban / breakbeat combo Obedient Bone on Monday 5th September. Also playing are Fat Habit {'melodic drumNbass'} and Final Sounds. It's free entry!

"Wow Milk, that's really cool!"

I know!

So here we are, all official like. We were going to go for 'Milk and the Milk Maids' .com but that seemed a bit much....

How do you like the new place then? Let us know what you think, won't you?

If you hop on over to where it say extras yes, you will find fabulous prizes. Oh my. Why, there's even some remixes. Yes, there's one missing isn't there? Actually, there's a couple missing.

How about that PodCast action? Eh?

Also amongst the collectable swap-meet that extras shall become are going to be things like 'interviews'. Ho ho! There is also some photographic evidence which you might find amusing even if you don't normally find us amusing.

"You guys..."

Anyway - it's been a couple of gigs since I've had a good Curdled Milk style rant so here you go:

We played the Ocean Rooms in Brighton Wednesday night as last-minute replacements to another band.

"Why Milk?"

Oh, you know.

First up were Dollface.

"Dollface? Really?"

Yeah!

We'd seen them before and they were strangely compelling - possibly the oddest band we've seen in Brighton {which is kind of an achievement in itself}. A strangely old-headed singer-guitarist, in the sense that he's got that good-old-fashioned 'hey guys, great' familiar parental muso joviality mature cheese, and in the sense that despite the fact that he's only 18 he looks like a grown-up.

They were like a real-life Wedding Singer style band. The kind of people who have guitar lessons and practice their 'licks' a lot. Probably doing A level music or a degree in 'personal rock performance skills'. A proper 'old-fashioned' style band. Totally 80's, obviously really good musicians, but totally out of context alongside current trends for Oasis, Gang of Four or folk style acts {a lot like us then!}.




If you are considering doing some kind of 80's Pretty in Pink style movie I would heartily recommend you employ them as the 'highschool disco band' in the scene where the Smart But Accident Prone Geek and his Cool Tomboy Best Friend arrive and meet the gaze of Prissy Posh Bitch and her Lantern Jawed Jock Boyfriend for the first time.

Tragically this time they left the 80's style Top Shop / Man at C&A suits at home which I thought was a damned shame. If you have yuppie / Hughie Lewis and The News in your blood then go with it. If you look good in a flecked and shoulder-padded suit with the sleeves rolled up, white socks and espedrils, go with it. What's the point in wearing the same flappy jeans, expensive trainers and 70's Americana style T-shirts as everybody else?

I kept my rain-soaked blazer on throughout the evening as a tribute.

However, Dollface demonstrated to us that once again, if you're not going down very well as a band, trying to be funny will just add 'going down badly as comedians at the same time' to your C.V. Bless you guys. And anyway, the 80's are kind of back yeah?

"No Milk, that was last week."

Oh.

Initially, headliners Wailing Jacks were an odd site too - a band barely into their teens owing so much to the likes of oldtimers Oasis AND Blur, let alone The Stones and The Who. Dad Music, probably literally in their case.

They were 90% Oasis, 5% The Who, 4% Ocean Colour Scene, 1% Blur. Really confident [as only a Mod Band can be] and tight for such a young team. It would be cool if they start to broaden their influences over time as they're obviously really good musos.

People lap this stuff up, because good old fashioned rock n' roll is safe, and it's familiar. Everyone from 6 to 66 likes a good old rock n' roll tune eh? Who needs rebellion originality when you can like the Beatles and EVERYONE will like you.

Visually, a nice contrast between the two guitarists {your uncle / the guitarist from Ocean Colour Scene on Les Pauls, trading licks with your cool, slightly less retro-quaffured art-student older brother on Telecaster}, 'the big kid from school who looks after you' on bass and a usefully over-energetic drummer, plus a vocalist who gets a nice - and BELIEVABLE balance between shyness and sass - I hope he happens upon the work of one John Lydon for ways to ram unrully limbs and hair down people's throats. Because at the moment all those similar influences amount to something that is a sadly one-dimensional, derivative end result.

Working out what you can get away with is the first step I guess.

"But what about The Set?"

We're certainly still learning what we can get away with.

"Hmmm..."

We only got offered the gig the day before. And I didn't realize how grotty the 'live lounge' of Ocean Rooms is. It's dead rough frankly. But the sound guy was cool.

Totally got lost in the songs quite quickly. I think maybe I was quite loud again? My guitar clogs up a lot of mid-range frequencies and I get quite shouty and the last thing I want to do is be one of those guitarists with toys who is always way louder than the rest of the band. Actually, the last thing I want to be is a guitarist full stop!

Everything I say sounds like sarcasm.

Anyway, I think I killed my guitar during the ending of DHj... but it sounded nice.

Do you mind if I keep my coat on, I'm not staying?

The Mekano Set