Thought Creature (REVIEW)

There was an All Ages Thought Creature show at the Otautahi Social Centre:








(photos by Chris Andrews - thebigcity.co.nz)

First up, OSC is pretty much my favourite venue in CHCH - total DIY vibes, and you don't feel like some greasy mustached pedo for showing up to an all ages show. The first band, Rufffians, were kind of average - 'noise/art' rock kind of thing, with MP3 player-based backing tracks. Sounded like equipment was malfunctioning, in a "we're inexperienced with our shit" way, rather than a Man Is The Bastard fuck-the-crowd ear-rape kinda way. Warble and the Shocking and Stunning Statement were better, playing experimental post-rock droney type shit. It's seriously weird that 'under 18' bands are playing this sort of music. I would say that Thought Creature are the best new live band I've seen in a while - I got Jim Morrison-esque vocals (re: reverb) on top of one of the tightest rhythm sections in a while, with some sweet rock 'n roll lead over the top. There were technical difficulties (PA was a bit fucked), but aside from that, everything went well. Overall - surprised by new bands.

There was an R18 show afterwards at Als Bar, with support from Tiger Tones and Frase+Bri. Everyone has seen these bands like 23 times anyway, so there's no point in further detail. 'Modern' pop-electro-whatever - nothing new/special imho (that's not to say they're not good at what they do... Check myspace if you really care. I'm almost certain that every city in the world probably has the same sort of bands - there's probably even central database where they share songs or some shit. Sitting outside I heard "but how do you quantify authenticity?", and then left halfway through Thought Creature. They were just as good the second time, but y'know. [/stereotypical disconnected hater review]

I walked home listening to Poison Idea and some fat girl came up all like "oh you can't hear because of headphones blah blah blah I couldn't get into Shooters my night was so crap blah blah blah" and then tried to make out with me. It was wierd. $10 dozen Flames + no sleep.