I Hate Mornings

My old friend “Nick Gill”:http://www.nickfuckinggill.com was playing down at the Jericho on Saturday with a band called “Fireworks Night”:http://www.myspace.com/fireworksnight. They share a couple of members with “The Mules”:http://www.myspace.com/itsthemules, who I had heard great things about but never seen, and both bands were on the bill. The support act was some chap in a deep red scarf crooning deeply intimate, but unfortunately (for him at least) largely unheard words of wisdom. Playing the opening slot at the Jericho is tough. All you can hear is the assembling crowd ordering drinks and chatting at the back of the room. Scarf man held his own.

h3. The best arrangement in town

Fireworks Night sound great. And not just in a well-rehearsed, muso way. You can tell they are great musicians, but that’s not what they are peddling. They create original and appropriate textures and sounds for each song, partly with thoughtful arrangements and partly by using loads of different instruments. The basic line-up of acoustic, electric, bass, drums and violin is hardly used as the bassist switches to viola, the violinist stamps and claps, and Nick plays electric guitar (plus slide), banjo, ukelele and musical saw.

All those instruments could be the recipe for a right old noise-fest, but these guys (and girl) keep things under control. “Filling the gaps”, as Rick Danko probably said. And drummer Ed Seed is very good at leaving gaps and playing around the other instruments. It wasn’t until a few songs into the set that I noticed how metronomic the singer’s acoustic guitar playing was and when he got up again later as the bassist for The Mules, it all made sense. He was playing Scott Walker acoustic. Scott used to record in a vocal booth with an acoustic guitar, and provide the beat for the enormous orchestra on the other side of the glass. But he wasn’t a strummer. He would pick out these great open-string riffs which cut through the mix subtly and defined the rhythm against the wash of strings. So Fireworks Night is like a 1950s village band playing Scott Walker. Not a bad thing.

h3. But is it pop?

I’m a sucker for pop, and I think it’s because of my bad memory. If a song doesn’t treat me like a child and constantly reinforce its message with catchy melodic hooks and a repetitive structure I forget it almost instantly. And that’s unfortunately what has happened with Fireworks Night’s songs. I went to bed the evening of the gig not being able to remember a single chorus, title, or even line. I was quite upset, because I wanted to relive the best moments in my mind. In the end I settled for a vague wash of acoustic and musical saw. I remember every note of that.

This happens a lot. My memory for lyrics is terrible, as anyone who has seen me sing will know, but give me a catchy melody and I’ll be humming it for weeks. But Surely that’s the point. Melody originated as a way of patterning words to make them easier to learn. Rhyme is a memory aid. Regular rhythm organises words and phrases into processable chunks. Call me a square, but I like my songs hummable.

h3. Signal vs. noise

Most small venues mix bands too loud. The drummer smashes his kit through the PA, and everything else is mixed over it. Thankfully, Andy was doing the sound at the Jericho and Seed doesn’t smash the drums as much as stroke them (at least in this band), so the mix was perfect. Sitting a couple of metres from the stage, I could pick out the ukelele from the guitar, the violin from the viola and the musical saw from anything. And I left without the usual Saturday night ringing in the ears.

I love it when a band sounds good, and easy on the ear. Not like “The Best Hammond Jazz Album… Ever”, but when musicians take pride in their arrangements and mixes. I also think it does no harm when a band looks the part. The thinking has been done for you, and you can relax. Fireworks Night showed what is possible with only a small dress-up box. It’s amazing how far a waistcoat and a moustache will get you.

h3. Great band

Fireworks Night are a thoughtfully entertaining indie band with a fascinating and full sound. And you can quote me on that.