July 5, 2020

Concert Review: Swallow The Rat + 3 Whammy Bar July 4, 2020

St Kevins Arcade was the place to be if you were a music lover anxious to celebrate your independence on this 4^th Of July evening.

Between the Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar there has been a plethora of diverse musical offerings over the past few weeks… everything from folk and country to jazz and rock and beyond.

Graeme Jeffries

Last night was no exception as Flying Nun vet Graeme Jeffries held court at the Wine Cellar while Whammy hosted four up and coming acts including Swallow The Rat, who just released their new album, Leaving Room, as lockdown kicked in.

Myself, I managed to catch all of Graeme Jeffries excellent set (look for a review from Rev. Orange Peel) and caught a bit of opening band Repairs.

Memory Foam

Sadly, I missed Moppy (I still can’t manage to be two places at once), but I returned to Whammy in plenty of time to catch Memory Foam’s short, sharp 15 minute set. I don’t know much about them other than they are new and quite punky sounding. Each song was about 1 minute long, so they left us wanting more.

Swallow the Rat

Headliners Swallow The Rat finally took the stage after 11pm and immediately launched into a sound I would describe as “Joy Division on steroids”.

The band has changed bass players since their 2018 EP with Stephen Horsley taking over bass duties and in true Joy Division fashion, seemingly taking inspiration from the mighty Peter Hook.

Other bandmembers include guitarist/vocalist Sam Vercoe, drummer Hayden Fritchley and guitarist Brian Purington. Horsley also sang lead on several tunes.

In addition to Horsley’s bass playing , the band’s other calling card is the guitar interplay between Vercoe and Purington. Each has his own, distinct style but that complements each other perfectly. The way they work reminds me of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd of Television.

The 10-song, 1 hour set ran through a good hunk of the new album beginning with Cold Moon and wrapping with album closer Leaving Room.

A mid-set highpoint was a cover of Galaxie 500’s Fourth Of July, obviously appropriate given the day. Possibly the band’s only drawback at this point could be in the vocal department, but I’m guessing as they get a few more shows under their collective belt, that will improve.