Mclusky/Oceansize
Thursday, June 17, 2004 @ The Horseshoe, Toronto

I first heard Mclusky on the way to see Iron Maidenlast summer. Listening to their previous album”Mclusky Do Dallas” for the first time is quite a rush. For a bit I thought parts of it were recorded live. Mclusky on their albums have been able to maintain a very dangerous, very live, interactive feel. Their music is anarchic, inspired, dirty, and very referenced. Mclusky’s references are very audible: Nirvana, the Pixies, Husker Du. And you know what? They sound punker and scarier than all of them combined. At a different time Mclusky would be huge, and maybe someday they will. The vast majority of their songs are anthems with memorable lines and choruses. And its hard to not like all Mclusky’s songs if you like one, since well, a lot of them sound pretty much the same. Since Mclusky have yet to pick up some real name recognition outside the Pitchforkmedia type community, I was really jazzed at the chance to see this band at a small club. And with Horseshoe’s great sound system, I knew I was in for a treat.

First I’d have to sit through Oceansize, who took the small stage at a little after 10 pm. I’d only heard snippets of their music before and didn’t care for it at the time. In little clips I had the impression Oceansize were another mid-level emo band. I was wrong. Oceansize live sound like so many bands that you end up calling them original. At intervals the band sound like Tool/A Perfect Circle, early I Mother Earth, Incubus, Mars Volta, Hum, Isis, I could keepgoing. Oceansize presented a wall of sound that withits three guitarists, pounding drums and bass fuzz, not to mention more special effects pedals than I could count, won the crowds respect, if not their feet. Yes, most of the crowd (much of the crowd did not show up until Mclusky took stage) actually sat inchairs rather than get anywhere near the stage. Atsome points it seemed to frustrate lead singer Mike Vennart, who spoke to the crowd with a touch of Thom Yorke-esque disdain. If this was true, it at least translated into an amazing performance. While the other members appeared to have fun, again, lead singer/guitarist Vennart played ANGRY. More angry than I think I’ve ever seen from someone live. The facial expressions, body movements, everything convinced me that this was an upset fellow. I think this was the clincher, convincing me to buy their album at the show. It is GOOD, albeit not as heavy on record as their live performance. As well, on record their music resembles less a few of the bands I mentioned earlier and more towards a type of indie prog rock. You’ve got your touches of Isis, but also you’ve got Mogwai in there too. Definitely worth checking out and I’d be excited to see Oceansize live again.

Mclusky took stage at around 11:20 and immediately ripped into “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues”, lead track from “Do Dallas” and a personal favorite. And they never let up, ripping through each song with precision and an energy few bands possess. I think overall “Do Dallas” got the most representation, with pieces from their new album “The Difference Between Me & You Is That I’m Not on Fire” getting almost as much play time. It took the live versions of new songs “That Man Will Not Hang” and “She Will Only Bring You Happiness” to really get me into the new disc, which until this show I had considered a disappointment in comparison.

Lead singer Andrew Falkous seems a master at intershow banter, or at least practiced, taking clever potshots at the few idiots (”Axl Rose” Falkous called them) who showed up and paid 10 bucks for no reason than to yell and have their own party at the back. It seemed very weird that this continued through most of both sets, how some jerk just couldn’t get tired of booing for booing’s sake.

The best song of the night was actually sang by Mclusky’s second vocalist, bassist Jonathan Chapple, “What We’ve Learned”. Jon took his chance to sing at the mic and belted out one of the harshest vocal performances I’ve ever seen live. He’s quite a performer when not singing as well, adopting his own weird shake as he plays, which seems even more odd considering how slanky and nerdly he otherwise looks. Drummer Jack Egglestone played his ass off, providing what seem like very simple drum beats, but playing very hard, earning every ounce of sweat that I could actually see consistently dripping from his face.

The only disappointment of the performance seemed tocome visually from Andrew Falkous. I’d hoped for acrazed stare into the crowd from the singer. It would just seem to fit what seemed like a maniac on record. Instead, Falkous provided a very solid and professional performance. He’s one of those types that closes his eyes as he plays.

This concert made me a much bigger fan of both bands, and that’s not usual. With that, I highly recommend you keep your eyes open for a listing should we be lucky enough both these great bands from the UK come back sometime in the future. — Goon

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