¡Forward, Russia! / The Hellset Orchestra / You Slut!

The last time this writer saw Nottingham’s own You Slut! live, it was a lot like having four mute yahoos ride in and decimate your face with their instrumental prog ballistics. What they lack in lyrics they make up for in SHEER BLOODY NOISE. Many moons have passed since then and in the time since, not much has changed, except now they sound more like an onslaught of dogs chasing you round a bonfire while cluster bombs explode out your anus – an equally brutal experience. It’s ferocious stuff, but I maintain the stance they’d do better with a vocalist, if only to give you a breather to re-focus before the next wailing Riff Reichstag.

The local love-in continues with the city’s home-grown The Hellset Orchestra, the antithesis of You Slut!’s brazen barbarics. Sounding like a be-suited Gogol Bordello merged with the spirit of Arcade Fire after one too many whiskies, if they’d sort out a few more memorable hits they’d no doubt be onto a winner. Violins and Saxophones command people’s attention just for the novelty, but once it wears off, there’s not much left to say about their music. They’re still very popular, they certainly win some kind of badge for being Nottingham’s most idiosyncratic outfit. Give them time, perhaps.

	"When they burst out of the shadows last year, eGigs was so THRILLED by their visceral punk triangulations that they ended up getting reviewed here pretty much every time they played."

And so to ¡Forward, Russia!, still f*cking around with their punctuation. When they burst out of the shadows last year, eGigs was so THRILLED by their visceral punk triangulations that they ended up getting reviewed here pretty much every time they played. Singer Tom was a demented Howard Moon of Thrash, apparently undergoing some kind of falsetto catharsis with every performance; it was as if drummer Katie had materialised out of a bubble-gum popping anime with her impeccably girly (and therefore contextually dynamic) backing vocals. Guitarist Whiskas masterminded the whole operation, while bassist Rob stood there looking like a nice guy. Without even getting to the music, it was all very exciting.

Then there was the music – waa waa woo wee! – who’d have thought meandering synth tinged thrash could ever sound so, well, pop. For all the bombast, their success lay in the heat of the hook.

So why does this review sound so much like a eulogy? They’re about to embark on another big tour, performing new material! Call me a cynic, because I am, but the moment has passed. They were great, they still are, but in the past year and a bit of touring, nothing has changed. Now that promotion for their debut ‘Give Me A Wall’ has all but finished, they’re probably low on first time fans. Tonight’s audience is made mostly of returnees, looking to see which new direction the band will take.

With seven and a half minute epic ‘Don’t Be A Doctor’ the best of the two new songs they play tonight, what do we learn? Not much. It sounds like ¡Forward Russia!, it’s a bit more prog (a shot in the foot for ongoing mainstream exposure), it’s quite good but not as good as previous shining moments like ‘Twelve’ and ‘Thirteen’.

It’s a fun night, everyone dances/sings/moshes. But despite being last year’s most original and exciting band, at this crucial turning point in the band’s career, a fresh helping of originality seems sorely lacking.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.