Ida Maria & Cage The Elephant
Barfly
Imagine what Kate Nash would sound like if she were to molest Amy Winehouse
at an old Libertines show whilst listening to Janis Joplin on her iPod and
you’ve got a rough idea as to Ida Maria’s sound. If you then take
a shotgun to Nash’s pretentiousness and Winehouse’s vocal-warbling
bullshit you’re pretty much there. With some added integrity born of
years spent idolising Iggy Pop, Ida’s package is more tightly packed
than most of her bandwagon-aided peers, with a punk-tinged element to her live
show; rather than stand at the microphone, hold onto her dress and gyrate her
hips, she flails about the stage, occasionally throwing herself to the floor
before rising once more to continue with her near-perfect vocal delivery. The
only danger for Ida on this night came from Cage The Elephant, who had vacated
the stage shortly before her entrance. Their strength lies in a style that
will appeal to the indie-humping nation – with the requisite set of annoying
drainpipe jeans – but which is fortunately allied to firm roots in American
garage rock. This gives the group a magnitude of power that the Brits, with
their seemingly damp gunpowder, can’t quite seem to match.
Tim Swietochowski
Hard-Fi
Barfly
After just four short months on air, Xfm South Wales is apparently on the brink
of closure. Despite its short tenure, the station has put on some impressive
live shows across the region. Hard-Fi’s exclusive gig at Cardiff Barfly
is another example of the station’s ability to drag some of indie music’s
biggest hitters into more humble surroundings. The band’s introduction
fell on deaf ears as lead singer Richard Archer strolled onto the stage almost
unnoticed, clutching his acoustic guitar for opener I Shall Overcome. The tune
takes a decent stab at stripped back indie-funk but most punters seemed more
concerned with getting the beers in than listening to Archer wistfully strumming
away. The melodica-driven Cash Machine injected some much-needed guile into the
show with Archer paying homage to wage slaves everywhere via punk-inflected grooves
and a rousing chorus. Archer kept rehashing his audience banter between tracks
by asking the crowd if they were alright and having a good time - sadly you couldn’t
tell either way. After just 35minutes, the crowd waited tentatively for the encore
- but it never came. The majority of punters were Xfm competition winners but
the supposed exclusivity of the gig seemed a little redundant. Xfm have done
well to bring these events to South Wales, but the hype fell short of the reality.
Keith Carey
A sample of the gigs we’ve been digging