News / / 24.02.14

SPEEDY ORTIZ + JOANNA GRUESOME

The Green Door, Brighton | 20 February

It was last Wednesday night that Alex Turner delivered his winner’s speech at the Brits. You know, the one where he spoke of rock ‘n’ roll spirit and breaking through glass ceilings; one which sparked a debate that would lead to countless articles, picking apart and attempting to fathom rock ‘n’ roll’s current state of health.

Turner’s comments have seen him championed as much as derided. While he may have raised several valid questions, in the tail lights of that two hours of sparkle small bands up and down the country continued to pull into venues, preparing to go about their normal touring routines. Whilst others may focus their glare on the charts, outside of the norm are bands like Joanna Gruesome and Speedy Ortiz. They represent the other side, the underbelly, one where bands operate largely away from the bright spotlight.

Tonight, in this tiny room beneath the city’s train station, a hundred or so young bodies are gathered. Eager to bear witness to the culmination of this tour – a send-off where two of the fastest rising bands around will throw themselves into honest and heartfelt performances before going their separate ways.

Joanna Gruesome may well have one of the most nauseating names ever, punning on the name of a harp wielding twee folk soloist. Gruesome, however, stand in ferocious opposition. Songs like Sugarcrush and Candy arrive loaded with personality. What these five hold dear is a punk-like spirit that takes its influences from 90s Riot Grrl, melding into three-minute-plus bursts of Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear-saturated teenage frustration. They take the influence of past torch bearers and update it, the musical equivalent of a successful cinematic reboot that brings the essence of the original to a new audience.

It’s a quality they undoubtedly share with Speedy Ortiz. Although Ortiz hail from the other side of the Atlantic – the birthplace of both these bands’ primary influences – there’s a mutual sense of referentiality which makes these two so complimentary of one another.

Whilst Speedy Ortiz don’t quite possess that primal aggression at the forefront, pop their songs under a microscope, focus in deeply and they’ll bare the influence of Nirvana. The 90s-hazed, fuzzed-out riffs of Tiger Tank may invite a lazy grunge tag, but this quartet have more to offer. Like tonight’s openers, they show an uncanny ability to mix unhealthy, punk-strewn angst with a healthy dose of pop sensibilities.

While tonight is hampered by string breaks and moments where between song banter dramatically falls short, there is something in Speedy Ortiz’s Best Coast meets Veruca Salt pop which leaves an impression lasting far beyond set closer Taylor Swift. Those yearning for an alternative to safe, mainstream approved rock are missing out by not focusing their attention on the vibrant scene which exists just beneath surface level. What bands like Joanna Gruesome and Speedy Ortiz do is prove that scene is already there, people just need to dig a little deeper.

 

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speedyortiz.bandcamp.com

Words: Nathan Westley

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