Seeing that The Kazimier was offering a line-up that featured both The Vryll Society and Blossoms, it was an obvious choice to get to a gig guaranteed to brighten a cold, Winter Sunday night. For once I managed to get to The Kazimier in time to see all of the bands on offer.
The first support Hidden Charms were a very pleasant surprise. Melodic 60’s style pop/rock topped by vocals just coarse enough to give their sound real bite. There are hints of the blues here too. Hidden Charm have harnessed the urban cool that typified the best 60’s music and brought a touch of class to their music. Their new single ‘It’s Time’ is free to download making it even easier to take a taste of what’s on offer from this interesting London-based band.
I had already heard The Vryll Society supporting Peace at their recent Liverpool gigs, and it was the inclusion of them on the line-up which had made this a must –see event for me. The band hail from Liverpool but are currently causing a lot of excitement further afield. The psychedelic influences are evident here but there is more to the music than that. The spacey, guitars and echoing vocals are best experienced live. There may be hints of 13th Floor Elevators here, but there seem to be far more influences spanning a number of eras at play here. The track ‘Beautiful Faces’ (currently available as a demo on Soundcloud) and ‘Cosh’ really stood out, ‘Cosh’ having a brilliant repeating riff I loved. Expect to hear a lot about this band in the future. They are definitely ones to watch.
Blossoms have already garnered a solid reputation and it was obvious what all the fuss was about from the first track. ‘You’ve Pulled a Gun On Me’ began with an amazing 60’s style introduction, which left no-one in doubt about their abilities. Following on, ‘Lava’ showcased some blazing keyboards. The slightly off kilter guitars of ‘The Urge’, the current single, set the stage for the beautiful soft 60’s-style vocals. It made me think of The Doors without sounding like a copy, with a really cool vibe to the music. The great tracks kept on coming, ‘My Favourite Room’ was a softer, acoustic-based track, whilst ‘Scattered Rain’ had the feel of the Kasbah about it, with a grand theatrical feel. Although the whole gig was excellent, ‘Scattered Rain’ was the stand-out track for me. Having said that, Blossoms finished on ‘Blow’, another favourite track of mine and a real crowd pleaser.
It is rare that I enjoy every band in a line up, but this was one of those gigs. As 60’s styled psych- rock is one of the genres I really enjoy, this was a night made in heaven. As both The Vryll Society and Blossoms are playing Liverpool Sound City, I can’t wait to catch both their live sets again. Roll on festival season!
Roxy Gillespie
