It is a well known fact that Manchester’s Northern Quarter is one of the best places to discover new music. For those into jazz, there’s Band on the Wall as well as Matt and Phred’s, and for those looking for guitars, there’s The Peer Hat and Gullivers. Head across the road from Gullivers and you’ll find its sister venue, The Castle Hotel.
Despite having a capacity of just eighty people and being so small that whispers between band members can be heard from the audience, the space has cemented itself as a pillar in the Manchester music scene. Name an exciting upcoming artist of yesterday or today, and chances are they've appeared at this iconic venue. At the beginning of April, the venue brought together the sounds of London, Brighton, Manchester, and Liverpool, showcasing the newest generation of brilliant bands.
Despite the name, Hunky Dory aren’t a David Bowie tribute act and are relatively unheard of outside of the Liverpool indie-rock scene. While they’ve received support from Rough Trade in their home town, and consistently appear on line-ups across the city, they remain elusive and are yet to release original material. In fact, if you search Hunky Dory on Bandcamp, all that appears is a wacky Indonesian band making Celtic punk-rock with the same name.
The first song started off slow: a flutter of acoustic guitar and tambourine, but the pace quickly picked up as the band came into full-swing and set the tone for the remainder of the set. What makes Hunky Dory original is their flautist, who also occasionally made tactical use of a harmonica. Few acts can successfully combine woodwind with a strong baselines, but their deftness was proven during the second song of their set, a melodic tune entitled ‘In My Mind’.
From there, the band launched into ‘Cowboy Music’, which rather aptly begins with rodeo-style drums and the unmistakable twang of the bass guitar. Hunky Dory’s setlist was comprised of songs from their forthcoming album, which is set to come out later this year. Upon introducing “the big single from it”, their singer backtracked, saying “well, not the big one, that makes it sound like it’s good”. Although repetitive at times, ‘As It Is’ proved these self-deprecating comments unnecessary and as Hunky Dory’s set came to an end, it became evident they're ready for new horizons.
Credit: Samuel Chamberlain @ The Mancunion
All Maudra are a trio also hailing from Liverpool, whose music refuses to be confined to any single genre. They took to the stage just as the sky was darkening, visible through the windows of the turret that gives the venue its name. Despite having no drummer, pressing the space bar on their laptop at the beginning of each song seemed to work remarkably well and the group successfully managed to blend grunge with electronic influences.
This unique sound felt familiar to Kate Nash’s Made of Bricks, who is a clear source of inspiration for the band. “It’s our first show in Manchester too”, singer Sophie Gossage took a moment to note as the set came to an end, before introducing the final song. “The end of this song has a testimony from an eight-year-old boy named Abdul and his uncle Omar amidst the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Listen and take it in”, the crowd were instructed. The stage was lit up with red and green lights as abrasive synths filled the venue, the most experimental the band had sounded thus far.
Appearing as the third act making their Manchester debut, magda(1999) packed out The Castle Hotel to the extent that frontman Max Lambert had to ask the eager crowd to move forward to allow more people into the room. Throughout their set, the band showcased a high level of instrumental dexterity, complete with vocals that are at times Jacob Slater and at others Ian Curtis. ‘Every Time’ was chosen to open, eventually exploding with percussion amidst the dark but catchy guitar riff that sustains it. The song invites comparisons to Been Stellar, suggesting that magda(1999) wouldn’t appear to be out of place within New York’s new wave of grunge revivalism.
‘Hole Punched in Cloud’ and ‘Sick With It’ came next, but the closing songs of their debut EP, which recently celebrated its second anniversary, did not appear on the setlist. They were left off in favour of unreleased material, including ‘Dyl Slam’, ‘Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes’, ‘Crickets’, and ‘Norilsk’, which gets its unique name from a city in Russia. Some of these tracks saw the main singer launch into incoherent vocals that seemed both screamed and mumbled, contributing to a sense of relentlessness that permeated through the performance.
magda(1999) rarely paused for breath, halting momentarily to deliver dryly humorous comments that fit well with their image. “Got the train here today, it was great”, their singer informed the crowd during one of the few breaks. “Went to Crewe, Upper Crust at Crewe station not bad. It was bad, actually”. After introducing the final song, the band’s most recent single titled (unlike the Upper Crust at Crewe station) ‘It’s Not That Bad’, the singer offhandedly stated “hope you all have a good life and such”. This flippancy was entertaining, and didn’t prevent the band from having stage presence. What was missing in chatter and crowd engagement was more than made up for by their musical proficiency.
If we’re talking Manchester bands currently on the rise, it’s impossible not to mention Holly Head. Their songs are politically charged and boundary-pushing in every sense, blending genres from shoegaze to jungle. Paddy Murphy, the drummer of Westside Cowboy is a former member of the band, and their current drummer Oscar Wheatley also operates under the stage name Sweetly bringing live drumming into jungle sets.
Credit: Samuel Chamberlain @ The Mancunion
While the event was listed as a magda(1999) headline, it was Holly Head who took to the stage last. The four-piece opened with a song simply listed as ‘New One 2’ on their setlist, featuring an infectious guitar riff and ethereal ending. This launched a seamless transition into the band’s first single, ‘No Gain’, which was played with an extra introductory instrumental part that does not feature on the recorded version. At this point, the crowd erupted: many in attendance were clearly familiar with Holly Head, reciting their lyrics by heart. When frontman Joe Moss performs ‘No Gain’, every action conveys passion, and ‘Keep’ managed to maintain this with its mixture of both ferocity and melancholy.
While completely different in sound, all four bands share a sense of originality that make them equally enjoyable and refreshing. With three Manchester debuts and one local mainstay, the event confirmed The Castle Hotel as one of the best places to witness up-and-coming musicians. A vast array of exciting gigs are due to take place over the next few months, so it’s more than worth keeping an eye on their listings in addition to the bands on this particular line-up.
Comments
Powered by DisqusComments are provided by Disqus.