Hancock's half-hour
So, the first heat of the OUSU and IMSoc Battle of the Bands 2003 kicks off in the Wheatsheaf, and this year I get to be a judge instead of the monkey on the door. Hurrah. What musical delights await me from the practice rooms of the student population? Well, for starters, there's last-minute replacements Kiint, who shuffle on stage apologetically, announcing self-effacingly that they're not Blue Kaddy, in case anyone was expecting them to be. The audience aren't bothered enough to care - or even pay much attention - which is a shame, since Kiint are good, alternating between brooding keyboard-enhanced instrumentals and slowed-down garage punkiness. 'Off Message' features floor-vibrating bass, rattling drum machine, and a12-string guitar, showing that while they may not have much of an audience, they've got more than enough talent. Audience interest perks up slightly during final song 'Life Imitates Pop', a faster number with a three-chord-punky feel to it, but all in all the atmosphere of Battle of the Bands tends to favour louder and more energetic bands over the more shoegazy stuff.
Louder, like twice-winners Malkovich, in fact, who are the kind of band that make you want to jump up and down and start fights in the moshpit. It's a pity they're not playing this year (due to languages degrees), but two of them have metamorphosed into Big Thursday and are now taking the stage with a new bassist and a new name, so that's OK. More than OK. Big Thursday rock! (Like Malkovich, although they told me I wasn't allowed to say that.) They have the killer basslines, they have the catchy choruses, they have the Muse-esque riffage, they have the crowd under their spell, they have 'working' song titles that aren't fit to print. They are loud, they are fantastic, and they are certain to walk away with this year's title.
Until Hancock! come on stage, that is. Inadvisable punctuation aside, they're clearly the best band tonight, even if two of their members are so bashful they spend the entire set hiding behind the speakers.
They are, in fact, the Oxford answer to The Coral, describing themselves as 'funny strange, and funny ha ha', and completely mental - be careful to mind the gap between the wild inventiveness of their music and their quiet and softly-spoken selves. Imagine country and western rock music backed by accordion synth keyboards and sweetly-sung harmonies, sampling bits of classic 80s cheese and pilfering ideas from everywhere you can possibly imagine - 'Waltz' sounds like Radiohead playing 'Ra Ra Rasputin', for Christ's sake... Hancock display an originality and diversity of infuences that is refreshing as it is exciting. This sways the votes of all five judges and Hancock! go forward to the finals in 7th Week.
Last Sunday saw the 2nd heat of Battle of the Bands - watch this space to find out the outcome.
20th Feb 2003