Maidstone on a sort of Sunny Saturday.
The place was upbeat and had a real buzz about it thanks to the Fringe Festival. I’d had the front of my hair permed just in case someone had misinformed me but alas, it was as had been reported; music, in a dozen or so venues with all sorts of bands, DJs and generally creative hubs spilling out onto the streets. Judge Jules was even in the house for a set at Source Bar as was Nic Fanciulli; the Maidstone-bred but now Ibiza-made-famous-name-that-fee local lad done good.
The highlight for me of the Saturday had to be White Bone Rattle who played at The Rafters. We hooked up before the gig for a pint in Drakes by the river. The pub had a stream of young bands hammering their hearts out; probably a more fruitful task than trying to get served with one barmaid on duty serving all of her mates. The White Bone boys – David, Mark, Jamie and Liam (2 sets of brothers respectively) – chatted about their new EP which apparently has a few added flavours to it to add some summery vibe to the deep n dirty rock n roll. These boys are dedicated to making something happen and if Newton’s law of attraction rings true then they should be getting some fat breaks back soon as they’re going all out.
There we were at a half full Rafters, and the boys stepped out at midnight and did their best to rattle those f*ckers from their hinges with some of their staple scuzzy, fat, dirty rock n roll that makes you clench teeth and fists alike.
They kicked off with a track from their forthcoming EP with producer James Sollis, which is as yet untitled but the artwork is incredible! The opener’s called ‘TSD’ but unfortunately the sound man was doing his best to throw the band off as he was seemingly just hitting buttons with mittens on his hands and David the lead singer’s mic went kaput to boot. The band needed to stabilise themselves after that and began to do so by sliding comfortably into ‘Horse’ (not literally as the RSPCA would have probably ruined the night for everyone), one of the rhythmic classics off of their album ‘Creature of Curiosity’. You could see they were moving towards their zone as this track rolled through and oscillated around its driving percussion and uplifting bass parts. David’s distinct vocals cutting through and finding their pitch.
They then played ‘River Will Rise’ and as people started to pile into the venue from the back to see the band it seemed the boys could feel this and began getting into the groove, you just knew it was a ride that was only going upwards and it sounded like things were cranking up and the speaker stack nearest to me was reaching out for help and by the time they slipped into one of my personal faves from the album – ‘Sleep Talking Fool’ – they were well into their zone, beers were in the air and you could see why they’re held in such high regard. Impossible to see them play tracks like this without screwing your face into that contortion of joy you only get when seeing a proper rock n roll band on fire.
One thing that sets them apart from other bands is their incredible change of pace within a track and this was showcased remarkably well. It’s a seamless manouevre and worth any entrance money alone.
They then played another new track – ‘Cloverfield’ – off of the EP which I kind of missed as I was getting the Red Stripe in but it had the signature aforementioned change of pace and a definite summery feel to it. This was followed by the album track ‘Creature of Curiosity’ which is a fairly simple and accessible rolling rock n roll track but I thought the highlight was David’s vocals and the chorus especially on this one. This was followed by another favourite from the album; the infectious, race car ride that is ‘Milk’. Oh my, this tune got the place jumping and I was halfway to the bar to get a drink that I’d left behind and as the opening bar dropped in I just left it and had to run back into the fray, it’s one of those tracks that you’d see blokes cursing to themselves at the urinals at a gig cos you just know the place is gonna be going off. There were girls jumping around and rocking out and the tune just oozes sex, two females to our left had lost all control and were rubbing each other all over to it. Apparently.
The boys then jammed a lovely psychedelic interlude from the EP followed by album tracks ‘Miss Mist’ and ‘Taken By The Movement’. The latter has been stuck in my head for weeks since spinning the album at home so this was kinda cathartic. It has simply got everything you could want from a rock n roll record. These lads are only young and God knows where this tune has come from; it smacks of confidence, confidence in the lyrics and confidence in the instrumentation and it takes you on a delicious, almost trippy ride that you don’t want to get off. It’s topped off with an incredible and genius lead guitar section at the end that just kicks it all up a gear just when you think you’ve hit the ceiling.
They ended the night with another new one which was easily good enough to sit on the album with the other gems and just shows they’re growing and are ready for the fight without leaving any of the elements that make ‘Creature of Curiosity’ one of the best albums I’ve heard in years.
Big up to the Slytones who were brilliantly entertaining and tight, a real show in itself. Final praise to the Maidstone Fringe Festival as it went down a storm and must have take a huge amount of stress and strain to organise but nice seeing the town coming together for an event that was clearly aimed to give breaking artists a chance.
@gigslutz_david
