dea Lesson No.1: October 2005

Monday, October 31

GOING LIKE MELT BANANAS



A quick heads-up to let you know we've sold a good proportion of the Melt Banana tickets. It's unlikely we'll totally sell out before the night, but if you're super-keen to make the show or you're trying to impress some girl or whatever, be warned you should either turn up for early doors or get your tickets in now. The easiest way to do this is to go to the Clwb website, track down Melt Banana in the listings, and click on that little 'T' thing, but you can also get them at Spillers or Rockaway in Newport if that's easier.



The Peppermints at Buffalo Bar, October 26th, shot by the splendidly talented Meirion Lewis

posted by The Lesson at 4:51 pm 3 comments

Sunday, October 16

MINT CONDITION



Rejoice! A flyer, for looking at, with your eyes. This marks the second appearance of a penis on the Lesson No.1 site, if keeping track of things like that is your bag

posted by The Lesson at 12:31 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, October 12

JESUS CHRYST



You thought the next bout of Lesson No.1 gig action was going to be Melt Banana. But you were wrong! What happened, you see, is that we were planning on putting on this 'alterntive pub quiz' thing to kick off our new monthly residency at the Buffalo Bar, but the only question we've come up with so far is 'Why is Fred Durst such a wanker?' (thanks to Noel Lesson No.1 for that one - it'll probably still appear, so get swotting) so when the opportunity came along to put on The Peppermints instead, we thought well, guess that's far from the worst idea ever.

Fresh from a tour with friends (and Paw Tracks paymeisters) Animal Collective, San Diego's The Peppermints play the sort of "experimental barfy trash-rock" that's sometimes compared to The Coachwhips, Melt Banana, and - hah! - GG Allin. If you were a chauvinist, you'd despair that such a guttural racket as 'Jesüs Chryst' would issue from the gullets of such lithe, slender young maidens (and one upstanding dude, who doesn't appear to be pictured above, but maybe that's his flip-flops). As it is, we propose you all come to new Cardiff venue The Buffalo Bar (formerly BSB) on October 26th, pay £3, and literally vomit your appreciation all over yourselves, your friends, and as much of the freshly-painted stagefront as you can manage. Aiding you in this task will be Bristol's Hunting Lodge, a disgusting band of foul miscreants who sound like the last track on The Stooges' 'Funhouse' being played in a deserted abbatoir. We have nothing else to add.

Except thanks to everyone who came out to see Wives, Night & The City Of Broken Promises, and King Alexander the other night. Funny ol' gig, it were - here's a couple of pictures.


That's Wives...


That's Night & the City...


... and that there's King Alexander

Oh yeah, and check out the new Kruger as well - it's got a great review of the USAIsAMonster show.

We never did put up that Consumer Electronics vid, did we?

Perhaps you can have it for Christmas.

posted by The Lesson at 9:04 pm 0 comments

Monday, October 3

YOUTH PROBLEM? WHAT YOUTH PROBLEM



People don't talk about the pop-cultural impact of the Backstreet Boys very much. You might think this an obvious point, but every absolute truth in fact has an honourable exception if you look hard enough. In this case, there are a few. The one with the hair was hilariously addicted to prescription drugs and shagging groupies up the tradesman's entrance, for one thing, and that video they did that was like a cartoon haunted house was sort of awesome. But the best thing the Backstreet Boys, or one of them, did was ram the back of a car one day and pay its owner a big compensatory wad - thus allowing the owner, Dean Spunt, to finance a 7"” by Wives, a brilliantly unhinged and discordant LA punk rock band for whom he sang. This was the beginning of a rocky road of shitloads of US gigs with bands like Lightning Bolt, THEUSAISAMONSTER and Wrangler Brutes: bands who, like Wives, have dunked their head in the skanky well of infant American hardcore but mangle the template in varied and dizzying ways. If you like the Minutemen, The Germs, Big Boys (whose 'Fun Fun Fun' they cover on their debut LP,‘'Erect The Youth Problem', Born Against, Rapeman or Killdozer, you might have a wet patch for Wives. Expect from their Clwb Ifor Bach show on Oct 10, then, what we're forced to call 'the unexpected'. Suffice to say it's the sort of everyone's-a-performer maximum smashism that will unquestionably benefit from being in Clwb Ifor's marvellous new downstairs venue, where the bands are smack in front of you, a stage but a madman's dream, and escape is IMPOSSIBLE! Hear some Wives here

Also bringing the jams: South Wales' Night & The City Of Broken Promises, who bring together extensive, almost dubby post-rock and chaotic emotional hardcore like someone should have done in 1994 but didn't (imagine if Mohinder and Bark Psychosis had met one hot sexy night). A bass-shaped absence in their camp is filled by the able hands of Jim from The Take. Superhero! King Alexander, who have a self-released EP in a purty sleeve that is in our useful and influential top 10; we should have put these gents on ages ago, what with their bendy structures built from lo-fi punk, spotwelder math-rock and spirit-of-93 riot grrrl. And An Emergency, a fresh product of the more-fertile-than-you-probably-know Exeter punk scene who take inspiration from Les Savy Fav, Sonic Youth, Hot Snakes, Ex Models and the like - see here for some kind of proof. Winter is looming and you are going to SWEAT.

posted by The Lesson at 8:58 pm 0 comments