Kaleidoscopes + MUTT. Live at the Flapper (21/03/15)

The Kaleidoscopes

First I'd like to apologise to Ste alan.  When I first saw the Kaleidoscopes back in 2013 claimed he was a teenager, turns out he wasn't.  I was wrong there.  Last Saturday was the 3rd time that I had seen the Kaleidoscopes and each time I've seen them they've got better. If they sounded like teens the first time round. they now sound much more like men. Ste is a laid back front-man, his voice generally hidden amongst the lazy hazy, yet very-very noisy shoegazy sound of his band. Yet at times they break out of the slower songs and he proves himself to be a pretty good shredder. While the Bass player adds a funkier sound to the bands music that shoegaze doesn't usually have. The band exude slacker charm and have a rather dry, self depreciating sense of humour. Some of the songs are pretty heavy, yet while all of the songs are loud, others are strangely relaxing. Such as the new single Glitter, which the band were encouraging people to nab free singles of from the merch table, (mine doesn't play). Glitter (which you can hear on the link below) is a good example of the bands music. It's shoegazy noise is strangely relaxing, and reminds me a little bit of Yuck.
While some of the Birmingham bands have appeared and consequently dissipated on a cloud of hype, The Kaleidoscopes have grown, and matured over time.

B-Town Rating 6/10

https://www.facebook.com/KaleidoscopesKaleidoscopes

MUTT

MUTT are a punk(ish) rock band from Birmingham, who's music is raw, scrappy and described by the band as 'Melodic Grunge'. What separates MUTT From being just another (albeit still very good) rock n roll band is their singer, Lottie Spencer. By a good foot or so the tallest person in the Flapper that night, she stood out with her long bright red hair and quirky dress. She has an amazing voice, a loud belting voice that has a hint of punk rock snarl, which reminded me of Sleater-Kinney or X-Ray Spex. Lottie has an amazing presence on stage. Kooky and seemingly friendly yet her screaming, rolling around on the floor, and wrapping herself in her own microphone gave me some idea of what it might look like if Zooey Dechanel decided to actually be crazy for a day.  Bad comparisons and similes aside I really enjoyed seeing MUTT, they reminded me of the also incredibly underrated 'Evans The Death' (who I shall write about soon).  Mutt have got a cool attitude, cool songs and are really just a great rock n roll band.

http://mutttheband.bandcamp.com/

B-Town Rating 8/10