Midasuno, Stray Borders, November Criminals – Cardiff Barfly, 09/08/07

-
Summers finally arrived so what better way to spend an evening than descending into a ghastly black hole where the sweat drips off the ceiling?

South Wales has proved something of a hot bed in recent years for all things loud and metal-like and these three bands are angling for a piece of the action. November Criminals are a fresh faced five piece with boundless energy. Raw and unpolished their set is ruined by the awful tone of the lead guitar. They demonstrate their ambitions of stadium rock by encouraging, god awful crowd participation in the form of a clap along. Unfortunately the lack of any decent tunes, rule them out of any impending appearances at Wembley.

Stray Borders offer something slightly different to the masses of Emo bands that spring forth from the Valleys with their take on post rock. Having been recommended to check them out by one of my esteemed colleagues, I took a breath of anticipation as they finalised their instrument set up and took to the stage. Anticipation can be a harsh mistress! Early signs were promising with the delicate opening bars and slow, slow burn familiar to many post rock acts and then the wall of noise that sends the lesser mortals scurrying to the bar for their ear plugs. What defines the good Post-rockers from the average is the intricacy and variations between their tracks. Stray Borders sadly lacked either, with the basic formula repeated ad nauseum. Does the occasional random scream make for uniqueness? I am not convinced.

And so to the headliners. Midasuno were once eulogised as the best new band in Wales. A long time has past since and they have been through the mill in the interim but they are finally ready to unleash their debut LP (Songs in the Key of Fuck) and tonight marks their album launch party. Launching into a well constructed set, the years of turmoil have produced a tight knit group who are comfortable in the live arena. Recent single Don’t Drive is an immediate stand out, the scattershot vocals and bellowing chorus would make it a sure fire hit if it was released by someone like My Chemical Romance. Alas Midasuno will more likely have to be content with a couple of plays on Xfm. The crowd are slow to respond to the energy on the stage and the expected mosh-pit never materialises. Maybe the kids of South Wales kids have gorged themselves on a diet of Emo and lost their enthusiasm for the straightforward hardcore approach that Midasuno favour. Filling the space between songs with a string of expletives and bemoaning the price of CDs in HMV, the singer fails to engage the expectant crowd. Hailing from Merthyr Tydfil, Midasuno need to start winning back the press and fans who once made them their darlings, if they are to be the next success story from the principality.