MISTAKES IN ANIMATION/ FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! PHOTOGRAPHY/ THE ATTIKA STATE @ NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB 09/02/08

MISTAKES IN ANIMATION

Mistakes In Animation are both hit and miss. I arrived at the venue very excited as there were loads of my friends present that I hadn’t seen in ages and was eager to hang out with them. I decided to make sure to catch Mistakes In Animation though as I wanted a band to review for the gig that I hadn’t previously, and also felt compelled to watch them after not having seen them before despite opportunities.

On the good side of this musical seesaw Del (singer and guitarist) is a very able guitarist and shows this on many occasions, using his ability to dress up otherwise simple songs. He is also not a bad singer. He is probably better suited to backing vocals but he more than holds my attention vocally. On the other side, I didn’t like the female vocals. I thought that her tone was not quite right and didn’t touch me in the way that a good female vocal so often manages. I also thought that there was a lack of a hook in most of the songs other than Peter Pan Syndrome, which was the stand-out song of the set for me.

At times Mistakes In Animation managed to sound like a mixture of Owen and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, but for the most part they seemed to struggle, and this was best seen at the end when Del realised that he was out of songs and then, by the time he muffled through something or other, half the room had left. Not the best gig for them.

http://www.myspace.com/mistakesinanimation

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! PHOTOGRAPHY

I have already reviewed 3FP twice this year and am bound to do so several times in the future and I’m starting to wish that I hadn’t promised myself to review every band that I watch and on every occasion. I am also starting to hate the idea of reviewing your friends. If you think that they’re awful then they’re likely to be a little disappointed and, even more annoyingly, if you think that they’re amazing then everyone will just think that you’re biased. It is even more annoying because 3FP really are very good.

I’m not going to harp on about the same faults that they have every gig. Mike’s vocals were still a little too low but they’re getting better. Folu’s vocals are a little too loud and so make the gulf between levels even more noticeable. But the rest of the problems seem to have been ironed out.

Tonight the band seems to want to make a point. Marc from the first riff decides to climb on top of the speakers and plays from there. During Aquaman Mike decides to join the crowd and smash himself about amongst them. The crowd feed off this energy too and, for the first time at a 3FP gig, there is actually a fair amount of participation (myself included). The band also seem tighter and may have benefited from reducing the amount of time spent trying to change songs and instead focusing on honing what they already have.

This was the best performance that I’ve seen from Flash! Flash! Flash! Photography and I’m hoping that they build on this.

http://www.myspace.com/flashflashflashphotography

THE ATTIKA STATE

Talking to different friends about The Attika State before they start their set it seems that people either think that they’re the best band in Britain or really can’t understand the buzz. The band seem to thrive on this kind of attitude and, when they do take the stage, there are a pool of ten or so people at the front singing and finger-pointing along with incredible passion. The band seem to absorb this energy coming from the crowd and pulsate around the stage accordingly.

Having reviewed this band earlier in the year I’m also at a loss as to how to review them further. They’re the kind of band that don’t seem to have off days. On this occasion they were strong and maybe stronger than before. They even air a new song that seems to have picked up perfectly from their ep, Leave Your Dignity At The Door.

The Attika State are, in my opinion, one of the most polished and inventive bands of their ilk in the UK. Every now and again we get a band of their type that most would feel could match their US counterparts, and in my eyes there are few at the moment who could achieve that more than The Attika State. I still can’t see it happening mind.

http://www.myspace.com/theattikastate