Livereviews

A Play/Rec Kind of Christmas – Huset, CPH, 19/12/205 feat. Barra Head, Lack, The Medications, Menfolk, Monoton, The Violet Hour

On something like its third year, I think, local record label Play/Rec’s seasonal shindig has become a must with its free glögg – the strongest in the world, we’re informed, and after tasting we believe them – and its band battling, where bands take turns at playing songs from facing stages, trying to outdo each other in true hip hop / jazz tradition. Only this isn’t hip hop, and not really jazz either, though that comes closer; and the first two bands, The Violet Hour and Monoton, don’t even outdo each other, just run through their rather uninspired material of indie folk rock and blues rock respectively. Then Menfolk take the stage opposite Monoton to set things straight, and their full-on noise attack even seems to inspire Monoton to dig in, but nevertheless Menfolk win this battle hands down, at least to some extent thanks to their two bass players. And in a way, they are jazz, what with all the syncopations, tempo changes, off chords, and squealing, but not the kind of jazz your dad likes. Not a straw hat in sight.

Menfolk aren’t the only ones tonight whose tempo changes and wildness bear likeness to jazz. Tonight’s guests from Washington DC, Medications, of Dischord records, the label that in many ways seems to have served as inspiration for Play/Rec, appear to have drunk excessively from free jazz’s well, and they explode on stage in a hundred directions. Sadly, they’re a bit too much, really, trying way too hard to blend emo and hardcore with all these tempo changes and complex structures, and come off sounding a bit like The Mars Volta. You want to like it in a way, since it ain’t half bad, but then on the other hand you wish for Menfolk to come on stage again and serve them a good beating. They get to play their prog core alone, though, and no one wins.

Barra Head and Lack, recently returned from their European Big Band tour, that had them sharing the stage each night for weeks, aren’t here to battle each other, they’re here to join forces and lift the whole thing to another level. This means that they cut in on each other’s songs, adding extra vocals, extra noise, if not taking over parts of them, which means that in the pit people are turning their heads all the time, and everyone’s smiling as we’re flooded in noise. This must be what heaven is like. They complement each other well, too, not only in that they’ve had time to study each other’s material, but in that their tread pretty much the same terrain musically, with Lack’s political songs a head better, and Barra Head the better musicians. Concert of the year, best Christmas present.

Jon A