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The 'Bones - chicks dig ska
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Gig Guide
Friday July 30th
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· Refuel: The Exclamations! and friends
· Captain Cook Tavern: MISTRESS
· Isis Lounge: Oxo Cubans Party Night
· Chicks Hotel: The Puddle
· Cellars Bar -Provincial Hotel: Katharticus in the Cellar
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Honeybone Pants Party - Refuel - 21/8/09
09 September, 2009Page 1
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The Exclamations! were on next. “Its rock madam, but not as we know it.” This young band seems to have found their groove early on which is impressive. They may need a bit of polishing, but they are a young band and certainly on the right track. There is plenty of time yet for them to detail and shape their sound yet. What is their sound? Evident in their sound is a mix of funk/soul/rhythm n blues/pop which I first at thought sounded like soul music straight out of Motown but then listened a bit more. I think it was the booming voice of Emma Lee Lewis that made me think of Motown originally. There is though more of a rock/pop vein running through, especially in the hands of the guitarist and bassist, who are Joshua Simons and Peter Crisp respectively. Maddy Parkins-Craig provided the percussion for the band. They seem to jump from genre to genre and sometimes sit on the fence. The Exclamations! are an almost perfect example of a test tube baby of the University's Contemporary Music Programme. If this is the calibre of what is being turned out, they aren't doing bad. Their instrumental 'Surfer rock' almost had a ska sound to it, like something from The Bones. This was due to one of them producing a saxophone at one point. One thing I did understand though was the sound they were putting out is certainly unique though in the local scene.
After the customary time of changing over, new instruments plugged in etc, The Du Cats Kit were on. They sounded a bit like The Living End, but draw upon diverse influences such as rockabilly, ska, punk and classic rock. I don't know whether I could hear all that that night at Refuel but they got everyone rocking. I could call it exuberant youthful preppy rock which is sort of what it sounded like. They are a 3 piece made up of Nick van de Vlierd, John Adams and Jared Beever.
One thing they could certainly be admired for though is that in a relatively short time, they have become a tight cohesive set and there is no element of angst or rage in their music. It more speaks of having a good time and basically rockin' out. A bit like Shihad really.
Honeybone were on last, the hosts of the night. When I saw Drew Handcock with that huge instrument around his neck, the only phrase that popped into my head was, “little man, big guitar.” I mean the guitar he was using would look big on someone six feet tall. Anyway, I digress. The lineup of Honeybone is Drew Handcock on guitar and vocals, Peter Jermakov on bass and Rachel Trainor on drums and vocals. They were touted as Dunedin's newest band at the recent Battle of the Bands, as they had formed a couple of weeks before the competition. They also had a play around with the order of who played what. Peter got on keyboard, Rachel came down the front on vocals and Drew on guitar then halfway through they revert back to their original plan, mixing things up.
Handing away CDs and actual Honeybone pants, they fulfilled the 'pants' part of the evening.
Formed out of demise of King Rex, they seem to stick stylistically within the vein of soft punk rock. I could hear traces of the Datsuns and the White Stripes within their work, but they seem to have in a very short time started making an impact. And when you think about it, there aren't many 3 piece bands around locally, quite a few rely on more players for greater variety and nuance. Some great tight 3 pieces exist though, such as The Clean, Delgirl and Julian Temple Band.
I think according to this night, that local student bands are in good health. There are tweaks to be made here and there, and by the end of the night there were about 60 or so people in attendance, but these are young bands and they have to start somewhere.
AK
Posted by scott
