Drowned In Sound Shred Yr Face Tour: Los Campesinos! + No Age + Times New Viking (Brighton)

Ohio’s Times New Viking have been saddled with the odd tag ‘shitcore’ by some lazy members of the press. This is more than a bit odd, considering how great this band can be. Tonight, they open this Drowned In Sound night in typically strong style.

Sixties-style organs blend seamlessly with ragged nineties lo-fi guitar and slacker vocals sung by all three band members. At times, a bad mix makes their usually highly palatable brand of noise a little too messy for mass consumption, as the bass line drowns out the accessible treble TNV rely on, but this is a minor quibble when the songs and musicianship are this good.

Continuing the trend for hazy, guitar-led noise, co-headliners No Age are up next. Hailing from California, there’s a fair dollop of West Coast pop mixed in with No Age’s trademark DIY churn. Sounding deliberately slightly wonky, this shoegazing, My Bloody Valentine element to the pop-rock template lends real depth. Still, this LA duo are at their best when indulging in full-on Dinosaur Jr thrashes in tracks from their excellently atmospheric Weirdo Rippers album and it’s these that stick in the mind long after the show.

You'd be forgiven for thinking you'd walked into an American Apparel store as tonight's other co-headliners, Los Campesinos!, come to the stage. Really, really good-looking they may be, but don't be fooled into assuming they're some twee faux-alternative pop band. Seven members cram on stage, brandishing instruments from glockenspiel to electric violin to create a loud, intricate, almost overwhelming sound not dissimilar to an Arcade Fire stomp. Punk pop clashes with classical and rock, at times stunningly well. Despite slight sound problems (vocals sometimes get lost amongst the bombastic louder instruments), these Cardiff youngsters round off the first night of this promising new bands showcase spectacularly.

Komedia, Brighton, 14th October 2008.

Written by Nick Aldwinckle.