Ohmme + Odmansbox, Kinds Of Light. Live at The Hare and Hounds review (18/2/19)

Kinds of Light (6.8/10) are a Birmingham group who supported Ohmme with a gorgeous set of blissfully psychedelic tinged indie rock. Mixing in some elements of electronic sampling and post rock into their sound. For an act who only formed just under two years ago they already seem to have their sound and style figured out and I think they will be worth looking out for.

The other opener Odmansbox (7.6), linger on the fine line between self parody and eccentricity. Coming across as a sort of mix of the clever clogs indie rock of Field music and the dense yet comedic Prog rock throwback of Matt Berry. Their singer reminds me a lot of Flight of the Conchords' Jermaine Clement and his penchant for self deprecating jokes doesn't help with this much. He introduced their song 'I don't want to be your dog anymore' as being inspired by to the legendary 6 Music DJ Iggy Pop. And that if you think about it the sing they played after that 'Swoon' is kind of about wanting to be a dog. Their singer also asked if anyone had 'been to a bad wedding lately' before playing their tune 'A quiet affair. Odmansbox mat struggle with their own name but they mix their light hearted humour with some impressively low key musical chops. They seem ready to fall into the tradition of bands such as Sparks, or 10cc who show that being smart doesn't have to mean being pretentious.

Chicago's Ohmme (8) are a trio comprising of guitarists and singers Macie Stewart and

Sima Cunningham and their talented drummer Matt*. Ohmme are billed as an 'experiment in voice, guitar and sound'. In parts of their show this definitely rang true as Ohmme have a habit of experimenting with guitar and percussion. However they have already crafted a sound that is unique and spellbinding. Macie and Sima have perfected their exceptional vocal harmonies and interplay between their voices and angular guitar riffs. Their songs are mostly stripped back post punk songs with a similar dynamic to Sleater Kinney but an artsy-ness that is all of their own. While they have plenty of engaging original songs its with their innovative approach to cover versions that they really shine such as with their rowdy take on The B-52's 'Give me back my man' and a brilliant cover of David Bowie's 'Girl Loves me' off the Blackstat album. This cover was good enough to remind me not only of how much I loved that sing when it came out but also of just how weird it was too. Ohmme did a great job of taking such a wild card of a song to cover and putting their own spin on it. 

Having come all the way from Chicago Ohmme had to deal with lighting and van failures earlier in the day Ohmme seemed convionced that they had been followed by a ghost, or that they might just be witches. Yet this did little to phase them as they engaged with the brummie crowd on the local dialect and how colds can exaggerate a mid-west accent. Despite coming across such setbacks Ohmme' debut UK Tour and Birmingham performance seems to have been a success. 

* at least I think that's what he's called

Websites:
ohmmemusic.com

www.odmansbox.com

kindsoflight.com