Issue 93 / October 2018

“It’s dirty, noisy,
tuneful, dark and so
twistedly rhythmic that
when you find out the
author is a librarian it
doesn’t compute”
A Day In The Sun (Georgia Flynn / @georgiaflynncreative)
A Day In The Sun
Emotion Wave @ Birkenhead Priory – 25/08
Maritime or religious? These are the bizarre surroundings
in which a group of ‘itk’ folk have found themselves today.
Birkenhead Priory is the oldest standing building on Merseyside.
It’s awkwardly picturesque with swathes of the rebuilt aspects
dominating the fight against the rusting cranes that sit old and
proud next to it. Built in 1150 it was where the monks helped
people across the river and, no doubt, back again. It is a tidy part
of Birkenhead and the locals are very proud of this remaining
piece of Merseyside architectural history.
But it’s 2018. The Priory is looked after by helpers that strive
to keep the building and its frontage alive. They do a sterling job
and so eyebrows are raised when Wirral New Music Collective
decide to help promoters Emotion Wave put on an ‘all-dayer’ at
the front of the impressively elderly church. Because when you
see the religious iconography of this sandstone brick building, of
course it screams ‘post-punk’ and ‘IDM beats’. OK. It doesn’t, but
A Day In The Sun is a worthy and inspiring attempt at making
Emotion Wave break out of the cosy and cool confines of 81
Renshaw.
THE JUPITER ROOM is a radio broadcast and one-man
electronica obsessive Mike Stanton. He is Wirralian, and his
knowledge of his subject knows no bounds. It does seem a
shame to shove him on stage at 11.15 in the morning, but it’s a
lovely sunny day (thankfully for the marketing department) and
The Jupiter Room seems nervously happy to be here. DJ sets at
ungodly hours are a chore. Not this. The core of what Emotion
Wave stands for is expertly demonstrated with a 55-minute
set that veers between the gorgeously sublime and the angrily
industrial. Skam’s Blackpool sample guru VHS Head gets things
started and the well-thought-out set comprises of the clattering
pop of The KVB, the gentle decaying of Brian Eno (from the
underrated Nerve Net, no less) and stopping off at Meat Beat
Manifesto, Leftfield, Belbury Circle and King Of Woolworths.
Sprinkle on a smattering of newbies (Jacob 2-2, Blackhill
Transmitter and the wonderful Makeup And Vanity Set) and
here’s a radio show writ large on any electronic radio bucket list.
Go search and peer into his damaged box of dark pop delights.
The headliner TVAM is playing to a happy few as the remains
of the sun slips behind us, creating a haunting view of the church
and an eerily demonic backdrop for Wiganer Joe Oxley to begin
the campaign to promote his brilliant debut album Psychic Data.
He’s all bigtime now the single has made the BBC 6Music playlist
and there’s a national tour in the pipeline. So, Emotion Wave are
humbled that he’s kick-starting everything off outside a disused
church in Birkenhead.
To be honest the surroundings suit the noise. His version
of angry post-punk – more of a tantrum morphing into a sharp
slap in the face – should be at odds with the ornate and flyblown
backdrop. But as the set opens with the album’s title track, Oxley
is gazing downward at his vast array of pedals as his television
that stands proudly alongside him, belches out DIY cut and
pasted video scrawls, idents and visually damaged feedback. The
TV draws you in and allows the TVAM experience to stamp on
your ears whilst you allow it to happen.
The debut single Porsche Majeure is still possibly the way all
artists that like post punk should aspire to. It’s dirty, noisy, tuneful,
dark and so twistedly rhythmic that when you find out the author
is a librarian it doesn’t compute. These Are Not Your Memories is
the track that everyone is getting excited about. Steam-hammer
synths and minimal punky guitars cascade over mumbled and
anxious lyrics. Oxley’s tremendous fringe flops sourly over the
mic and he grapples with his guitar as images of 80s pretty boys
getting their hair cut on the screen do make you wonder what the
hell is going on in Wigan’s libraries to create this.
Even when the lights go up, TVAM extends the final psychsynth
wig-out Total Immersion to give the rusting, yellowing
cranes something to dance about. And then it stops, infuriatingly.
It’s going to be album of the year. He is one of the cleverest new
artists this writer has seen in a while and the gig in November
at EBGBS is essential as Joe will have tweaked the set and the
album will have bedded in. Be there. Or at least go and support
Emotion Wave. It’s a serious glimpse into the future of artificial
life. !
Ian Abraham / @scrash
A Day In The Sun (Mook Loxley / mookloxley.tumblr.com)
TVAM (Georgia Flynn / @georgiaflynncreative)
REVIEWS 39