Taffy / The Courtesy Group / Monoxide Brothers – The Victoria, Birmingham
Perhaps the greatest delight in visiting Birmingham is finding hidden gems tucked away in the heart of the city centre and the brightest jewel in the crown is undeniably The Victoria. A pub with a nifty live room upstairs, The Victoria encapsulates all that is good about independent music venues and has a calendar that is packed with bands who represent the cream of music’s grass roots. Tonight finds Japan’s Britpop/shoegaze legends Taffy rubbing shoulders with local talent in what promises to be a mouthwatering evening of music.
Despite their name, the Monoxide Brothers are not male siblings and neither are they poisonous; they are, however, a pair of sonic manipulators who get the evening off to a slightly surreal start. Delivering dark and discombobulating lyrics over equally disconcerting electronica makes for a pretty arresting experience. In an already steaming room the Monoxide Brothers raise the temperature a few degrees and ensure they won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
Another band who shall be indelibly stamped upon my memory bank are The Courtesy Group. As soon as they take the stage they emit a sense of danger (as all good rock bands should) and it’s a sensation heightened when a wild-eyed vocalist makes the first of several sojourns into the crowd. His Birmingham-centric lyrics are delivered with the type of drunken wisdom displayed by Tom Waits and Mark E. Smith, and he has a similar kind of demeanour. When you factor in a band that features two bassists, a powerful drummer, saxophone and a black magician of a guitarist you have a combo who can slug it out with the best of them, and they surely will.
Self-proclaimed Britpop and shoegaze band Taffy do themselves a disservice by painting themselves in a musical corner because their sound is about so much more. There’s certainly nothing slumber inducing or dreamy about opening track ‘Sweet Violet’ which finds the band arriving with all guitars blazing. On the first date of their UK tour, Japan’s Taffy come straight from the airport and the sense of urgency with which they attack their instruments suggests they’re showing no signs of jet lag. The band deliver a set that delves deep into their discography and deliver those songs with an unbridled joie de vivre; taffy are all smiles and look like there’s nowhere they’d rather be than rocking the Victoria stage. It’s an effervescence that’s highly addictive and soon the crowd are in their collective palm and with tracks such as ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, how could they not be? A set jam packed with indie rockers ensures that everyone leaves with a spring in their step.
Review and photos by Peter Dennis