Dead Contract & Running Stitch + DJ Sicoff – Cupid Bar: October 19, 23024

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Dead Contract and Running Stitch performed last night at Auckland’s Cupid Bar. Sadly, a third act, The Bridesmaids had to pull out of this show due to bad teeth issues, but DJ Sicoff came to the rescue with extra 7” vinyl and the po was saved, well, not really…

SicoffRunning Stitch
Are an alt/pop/rock toru-piece from Helensville/Te Awaroa, members are: – Aletta Johnson (guitar/vocals), SJason George (bass), and Owen Bradley (drums) and have released two EPs since 2014. Their lineup revolves around Aletta Johnson with a slew of bassists and drummer joining her in studio and live.

Running StitchDescribing themselves as an ‘alternative rock – pop’ band, live, tonight I feel less pop and more alternative. The melodies are simply structured, yet enticing, sometimes anguished, in the same vein, like when acts such as The Pretenders or The Raincoats mixed punk attitude with sophisticated rock. An Aotearoa analogy would be The Expendables or Look Blue Go Purple.

Whilst Aletta’s vocals dominated, at times her guitar efforts were a little lost to  a booming bass volume, sometimes the complexity and subtlety were lost. But in the confines of the comfortable Cupid Bar, Running Stitch endeared themselves to the conservative sized crowd, and held attention and aroha without foible.

Dead Contracts
This is Dead Contracts debut show, a rua-piece, Guitar/Vox and Drums/Vox, they are the remnants of Dad-Punk band Torana, who has defrayed members, lured away by the ‘simple-folk’ lifestyle, from high civilisation.

Dead ContractDead Contracts start off loudly, in contrast to the melodic and measured efforts of Running Stitch. It’s busy and at times unrelenting, drawing on Punk Rock, classic influences like Black Flag, The Stooges and Billy Idol, the duo share vocals in complementary and combative modes, which added a welcome dimension to their waiata.

There is the obligatory cover, Loose (The Stooges), done in an interpreted manner (a welcome effort), but in many originals, there is an over-burden of complexity. It feels like both guitarist and drummer are trying to pack in too much in many of the songs. Though, toward the end of the ‘official’ set there is a glimmer, a song that gives/has space and room to allow sagacious creativity. Promising.

As mentioned, The Bridesmaids had to withdraw from the night’s merriment, but as a welcome encore, the band’s Bassist John MacFarlane, joined Dead Contracts, for a trio of waiata, including a couple of Ramones songs. A welcome after dinner mint, salaciously complemented by the DJ selected, smooth and rich, classic Jamaican reggae tunes, wafting through Cupid Bar, as the imbibing continued.

Simon Coffey

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