Fighting With Wire – Oxford Academy 08/02/09

-
Fighting With Wire

Five bands? In a couple of hours? Bargain.

Turns out, three bands would have been a bit more desirable. Apart from the fact that the first three bands on tonight all have the number 9 in their name, there’s very little to stimulate interest in any of them whatsoever. The punk-lite of Target Nine and Twenty Five to 9 is pretty interchangeable, in other words it lacks the kind of spark that should be at the forefront of any punk band’s arsenal.

The New 1920 are inevitably tainted by association – they’ve got a 9 in their name after all. Perhaps the tedium of the first couple of bands is making my opinion a little lob-sided, because in reality they’re not half bad. Not exactly punky, but more an all out rock band with big choruses, on any other night they’d be a great prospect. Vocalist Colin Francies is a constant threat, stalking the stage, and eventually the audience, like David Yow used to in his prime. Expect to hear more from The New 1920, they’ve got plenty of potential.

Lafaro are a revelation after all this well meaning and tuneful attempts at aggression. Finally, here is the real deal. Bass lines rattle the rib cage, thundering from the speakers like bolts of sludge. The riffs are tight, economical and ultimately aggressive. What’s not to love? Mix Pixies, Helmet and Mclusky together and you’ve got a rough approximation of what Lafaro are capable of. A half hour of being punched in the face by genius? It doesn’t get much better than that.

Fighting With Wire have a tough act to follow by all accounts. But they do so with ease. Surprisingly they start fairly quietly and take a while to find their feet. With the size of the stage threatening to pull the three-piece apart, it takes constant trips away from the mic by Cahir O’Doherty back to the drum kit to consolidate them. This means that arguably the most entertaining sections of their set are when the band are condensed in the middle of the stage wringing strangulated riffs from their guitars. O’Doherty only really begins to fire on all cylinders when he rants at the audience about Iggy Pop’s dubious decision to flog car insurance or time or something. That out of the way, Fighting With Wire shift through the gears and give the songs the voice they need. If you’re going to be treading the line between Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr and Sugar, then passion is a definite must – as are tunes of course. Digging deep, Fighting With Wire have both in abundance. Once they’ve realigned their course, they’re unstoppable, O’Doherty a mass of flailing hair and clever riffs. Unsurprisingly he finds himself atop the bass drum poised to throw himself off come the closer and the band draw close to rip it up. Get them in a smaller venue and they’d be incredible.