Review, Astral Festival VI, The Lanes, SWX & Rough Trade

Edition V of Bristol Psych Festival was a  salmagundi of trips, headfucks & twisted music. This year’s Edition VI has been rebranded as the Astral Festival (get the lowdown here) and offered a similarly splendid and eclectic bill of 27 bands. Local, national and international outfits to suit the always amenable & friendly local, national and international crowd. Another sweltering day scampering from venue to venue to try and catch as much music as possible…

Earth Tongue hail from Wellington, New Zealand and the two-piece conjured up an invigorating, dense, celestial groove. Many guitar & drum duos struggle to get variety into their set, but Gussie Larkin & Ezra Simons managed to do so with a half dozen trippy, sci-fi / occult inspired tunes. The busy drums were powerful and playful, with just the right amount of flash to keep the rhythms fresh. Seriously down tuned guitar (forceful runs, unexpected burbling riffs and surprisingly dark melodies) kept it pleasingly diverse. Great duelling vocals too – cosmic leads from Larkin and primal responses from Simons, who howled at times. Stand out tune Astonishing Comet was jaunty; with cheeky cymbals that belied its subject matter: “Unrelenting terror every waking hour”. Earth Tongue played with charisma and power, their tunes were heavy but danceable, and they showed tremendous potential.

Locals Olanza expanded their line-up for Astral: Shaun, Ben & Aron joined by Annie on bass. Her presence centre stage provided a focal point for their technically adept yet passionately performed instrumentals. Ben & Aron mostly watched each other as they pounded out their meshed primal riffs and mercurial soloes whilst Annie was a headbanging, grooving dervish. Shaun’s drums were the foundation – hypnotic, a trancey take on the motorik beat. Instrumental sets can be testing but Olanza have mastered the art of mixing light and shade into their music, including riffs for headbangers and beats for dancers. This was a playful set with twisty time changes that invited your attention and entertained your feet.

Trans-Pennine hypnotics Bonnacons of Doom debut Bristol show at The Cube was a powerful statement of intent. Despite the heat and mid-afternoon slot, they more than matched that performance in SWX. They’re still rocking anonymity via the silver disc masks (although the cloaks were dispensed with in favour of shorts) and they’re still pounding out monstrous, riff heavy space metal. Monstrous but never ponderous – the rhythm section was funky enough to keep it forceful yet nimble. Kate Smith’s vocals were never dominated by the maelstrom around her, she owned Plantae with a dazzling display of vocal prowess & dexterity. But Solus was arguably the band at their peak, an atmospheric build up into a glorious, skull crushing cacophony. Brain melting aural heaven for the discerning headbanger and space cadet alike.

Over at The Lanes Modulator II (from La Belle France) had started during the Bonnacons set, but the already packed Rough Trade required your reviewer to squeeze his way to the front. Wholly attired in white boiler suits the band also belted out space metal. But whereas the Bonnacons space metal is filtered though a dance / rave sensibility, Modulator II are clearly in thrall to the sonic explorations prevalent in the seventies and are travelling along the cusp of space rock and krautrock. Alternating and shadowing riffs from the twin guitars were propelled by remorseless drums and relentless bass. Vocals came from behind the kit, plenty of phasing and echo adding an early Floyd feel to the mix. Eschewing conventional hooks and choruses this was a primal and exciting set that met with massive approval from a rowdy room.

There are two things guaranteed to get your heart racing like a runaway train at a festival. Firstly cheap-as-chips speed purchased from your friendly neighbourhood outlaw bike club. And secondly the sight of two drumkits being set up on stage. Gnod delivered an off-the-scale performance built from two drum kits. This was a visceral performance. A sense slaying, all-encompassing ear-splitting assault and battery of the human anatomy. Weapons grade power with volume deployed as a sixth instrument, Gnod took SWX by storm. Awesome is a word deployed too much (young ‘uns will describe a selfie or serving of fries as awesome) but this performance was truly awesome. Bodies for Money was astounding: a breakneck introduction, leading into a menacing and atmospheric instrumental breakdown before an even more berserk finale. Frighteningly powerful.

Ever wondered what ? and the Mysterians jamming with Booker T and the MGs would sound like? With Little Ricard on vocals? Well, Monkey Island (sic) based King Khan and the Shrines kinda answered those questions as the eight-piece played a crowd pleasing set of psychedelic infused RnB replete with silver capes, feathered headdresses and tributes to Roky Erikson. The horn infused tunes blended sublimely with the wah-wah guitar and piping Nuggets organ, all riding the four on the floor rhythm section. Kahn is a captivating front man, blessed with a powerful voice and full of ribald banter (“This is a love song, I want you all to get close together…and put a finger where you’ve never put a finger before”. Ahem). I Wanna Be a Girl was arguably the best received tune in a merciless set of foot pleasers.

Triptides are from L.A. and have forged a delightful potpourri of tunes from that town’s musical heritage. Sun-kissed harmonies, lilting melodies, mercurial guitar solos that caressed the ears. All laid over that classic sixties pop meets RnB shindig beat. Oh, and the impressively named Brendan Peleo-Lazar (on drums) gave one of the most impressive performances of the day. Like some unholy amalgam of Keith Moon’s flash and Bill Ward’s power & swing, he gurned and pounded his kit yet never lost the beat. Seriously, get this guy to the front of the stage, it was a genuine pleasure to watch his intensely physical performance. Packed with earworms, their pop nous made for a beautiful mix of hip accessibility.

Atlanta, Georgia’s Mattiel led a two guitar, bass and drums band through a breathless set that visited both Mattiel and latest release Satis Factory. Tight as a nun’s chuff, the band played an incredibly muscular, infectious take on soul meets rock. Stage right we had classic, clean rock (almost metal) guitar breaks whilst stage left was filled with twangy, surf country breaks. All underpinned by a driving rhythm section in thrall to Stax and paying homage to Motown. All of this was in support of Mattiel’s voice. And oh, what a voice. What a voice. Powerful and effortless, her rich tones were the perfect vehicle for her tunes. Effortlessly classic tunes that echoed the great songs of the sixties, referencing the Brill Building as much as the Filmore, a glorious amalgam of pop and psych. The only thing lacking were keys and an organ to replicate the recordings.

On any other bill Part Chimp would have been uncontested heavyweight champions of the unyielding riff. But on this bill? Faced with the precision bombing of the Bonnacons and the carpet bombing of Gnod, they were faced with a mighty task. So, they exploded all over the Lanes like an IED. Titanic riffs flirting with sheer noise, this was a set that threatened to go beyond 11 directly to tinnitus. Yet another visceral performance, this was immersive music for a whole-body experience met with universal delight by the packed, sweaty throng..

Temples drew a large crowd to SWX (no surprise) and their set made for an interesting compare and contrast exercise with Triptides as both draw on similar sources & influences. Temples certainly have the harmonies down pat, and that acid pop sensibility, but draw on their English forbearers as well. There’s an English whimsy snuggled up inside the tunes, albeit whimsy delivered on a muscular rhythm section. And, whisper it, there’s more than a tinge of early prog about some of the songs; you know, that moment when the sixties bands steeped in blues and soul started stretching out and exploring but before they started wearing capes and releasing triple concept LPs. The tunes had a glam stomp at times as well, and the partisan crowd roared their approval, singing and dancing along throughout.

L.A. Witch (guess their hometown) were tuning up and setting levels as Temples played, but the crowd was already packed into the Lanes. The trio specialise in a psych infused desert rock that is more mescaline than acid, sharp yet sophisticated vignettes requiring and deserving attention. For the first time the mix sounded a little off (or was that simply riff ravaged ears?) the guitar somewhat swamped by the bass and battered by the drums. Nevertheless, their set was exceedingly well received, the crowd throwing shapes and grinning throughout.

Nominal headliners Thurston Moore Group were already in full flow by the time your reviewer extricated himself from the Lanes. Given the showmanship of Khan; the vocal prowess of Mattiel; Temples’ psych-pop and the crushing riffs of both Gnod & the Bonnacons this was quite a different vibe. Nary a microphone on stage (but a music stand and score for the bass player) and not an ounce of rock star shape throwing. The band simply played. The music was cerebral, essentially music for ears and mind alike, but there were plenty of people willing to move and groove, finding the beat. Alas it was at this point that the evening caught up with your reviewer, convinced that all that would be needed to stop the ringing in his ears was a good night’s sleep.

So once again the crew at Stolen Body Records (ably supported by Pistonhead Lager, Bad Luck Magazine and City and Moon) delivered a superb night of challenging, entertaining music. And once again VFFM (you’re smart, work it out): super early bird tickets at £20 for 27 bands was a ridiculously decent bargain and even the full price at £45 was mighty decent. If you fancy something that’s under the zeitgeist radar, a friendly event packed with superb music then watch out for announcements about Edition VII. Fingers crossed it’s gonna happen.

Astral VI: The Lanes, Rough Trade & SWX: Saturday, 06 July 2019

All pix by Falk-Hagen Bernshause