‘Roadstars’, eh? If
the meagre crowd in attendance tonight has been typical of the turnout as these
guys have schlepped around the country over the last couple of weeks, then I
reckon ‘Duespayers’ would have been a better monicker for this tour.
Fair play to Federal
Charm though, they put it all out there regardless. They come on stage to a moody entry tape of
movie dialogue, and open up with ‘Master Plan’, which sports a
spiky riff and
interesting bridge. A bluesier number
shows off some subtle slide from singer and guitarist Nick Bowden, but the
following ‘Hercules’ is so-so stuff, demonstrating that their main challenge is
producing material of consistent quality.
‘Guess What’ is much better though, opening with a stuttering, trebly
riff reminiscent of Houses Of The Holy vintage Zep, before it follows its own
path, and it has to be said they give it the gun, with guitarist Paul Bowe
indulging in some serious stage stomping.
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| Federal Charm - stage stomping |
A couple of power ballads illustrate their variability:
‘These Four Walls’ is okay, but that’s it; ‘God, Forsaken’, on the other hand,
has a good structure, tasteful vocals, and atmospheric lyrics. ‘Give Me Something’ is frantic, with a dash
of harp and some banjo-like guitar from Bowe, and they finish strongly with
‘Silhouette’, which offers a big riff and a tasteful Bowe solo.
Federal Charm are a tight outfit, with a well-oiled twin
guitar attack underpinned by a rock solid rhythm section in bassist L D
Morawski and monster drummer Danny Rigg, and they come across heavier live than
on their recent album Across The Divide. There’s undoubtedly potential there if they
can write the songs to exploit it.
Nashville three-piece SIMO
are a distinctly more mature proposition.
Their second album Let Love Show
The Way pointed towards the Allman Brothers and psychedelic jam band
influences, but this live set is a take no prisoners journey to the centre of
your mind.
As he tunes up guitarist and vocalist J.D. Simo observes
with a sly smile that it feels
claustrophobic because there are so many people
in the room, before they get down to business with a wonky funk opener, on
which he delivers a brain-warping solo.
That’s just an hors d’oeuvre though, before they launch into a slice of
rock’n’roll violence in which Simo assaults his mic stand on the opening verse,
ahead of an anarchic solo over racing rhythms, an interlude of skating slide, and
a bout of microphone-free a capella vocals at the front of the stage.
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| J.D. Simo gives it some Ginsberg |
It’s breathless stuff, but there’s some respite as they
embark on a sweet blues, though with his soloing drenched in reverb to give it
a piercing quality as they raise the stakes.
Simo is a wild man, with a physical intensity to his playing that’s not
about striking poses, while Adam Abrashoff on drums and Elad Shapiro on bass
add swathes of shake, rattle’n’roll.
They close their four song, 40 minute hurricane of a set
with ‘I’d Rather Die In Vain’, featuring rippling, jazzy bass runs from
Shapiro, and an impressive if unnecessary drum solo from Abrashoff – he doesn’t
need this to prove his credentials, given that he and Shapiro serve up a blizzard of
syncopation as a backdrop to Simo’s out-there guitar playing, now conjuring up
all sorts of wild guitar tones without recourse to effects pedals.
You can make comparisons with the edginess of Jack White, or
maybe the manic punk-jazz of White Denim’s early album Fits. But I think the real
clue to this lot is Simo’s avowed love
of the beat generation of Kerouac, Kesey
and Allen Ginsberg. Have a swatch at the
wild torrent of Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’ and you’ll get the picture.
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| Aaron Keylock - don't mess with the kid |
There are people out there who would have you believe that
teenager Aaron Keylock is some kind
of blues guitar wunderkind. But I ain’t
buying, I’m afraid. What’s more, I think
it’s unfair to tag him with those kind of expectations.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Keylock is a promising young
guitarist. In particular he has a tasty line in slide guitar, with a Micky
Moody tone to it. But his vocals need
work, and his songwriting is still immature, although occasionally he does manage
to invest something simplistic like ‘That’s Not Me’ with a catchy chorus. ‘Sun’s Gonna Shine’ has a nice jangly riff,
but otherwise is pretty pedestrian until they whip up a bit of a storm at the
finish.
On set closer ‘Against The Grain’, boldly sharing its title
with a Rory Gallagher album, Keylock offers some more nifty slide playing
before they crank things up with a focussed ending. But he has a long way to go before he can
bear closer comparison with someone like Gallagher, and he should be allowed to
develop without that kind of burden.
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