It was a proper hard rock bill on offer upstairs at the Academy on April the 7th.
Downstairs Jessie Ware was doing an outstore for Truck Records, we opted for the quality three band line-up upstairs.
Fawlers
Mouth Culture put out invites for local bands to take the opening slot on this tour and Fawlers were the deserved Oxford winners. We have heard talk of their impressive live performances for a while now but had missed out on a few chances to see them. Frustratingly, we missed the start of their set, but the rest of it was fantastic.
Fawlers are a proper muscular rock band. They are a mix of alt-rock, grunge and punk.
The audience is appreciative and they get a strong reaction after the final track rock out. They only got together last year so the growth potential remains huge. Get out and see them.
Overgrown
This is the band’s first full tour and it shows in the over-earnestness between tracks. Whilst they have yet to master stage presence properly, they more than make up for it with a cracking set of songs.
This is another proper rock set with a number of tracks made for head banging or moshing, a more than suitable lead into Mouth Culture. They are from Berwick-Upon-Tweed on the English side of the border with Scotland. This is an intriguing mix of nu-metal and grunge. They have quite a bit out on streaming and again, highly recommended to give it a listen.
Mouth Culture
If Overgrown are just starting out the journey on figuring out what a rock band looks like on stage, Mouth Culture have been perfecting it for eight years. They are now very much the finished product and absolutely own the Academy 2 stage tonight.
Jack Voss is a powerhouse frontman from start to finish. At first immaculate in a crisp white and black striped t-shirt, then when the sweat starts to fly revealing a load of tattoos on his bare torso. Their drummer Todd Groome also reveals plenty of ink but has impressive hair to fling around behind the kit as well.
After a couple of tracks Voss is after more from the crowd. “That was not bad but I think we can move to Phase 2 now.” The crowd does a decent job of raising their energy but it is a Tuesday night in Oxford. Voss gets a few circle pits going on command, in general it maintains at some mid level moshing rather than all out rock carnage. He conducted the frontman duties admirably though.
They kick of with ‘On and On,’ their brilliant, pounding last single from October last year. Amidst a flurry of songs it as another recent track, the melodic ‘Picking Wings Off A Butterfly’ that next really stands out.
‘Happier,’ has more of a funk beat underpinning it. ‘Again’ demonstrates their ability to tell a solid narrative through a song. ‘Sharkbait’ shows their heavier edges, you feel Kurt Cobain would have approved of this one. ‘Ratbag’ has become something of an anthem for them, of course appearing towards the end of the set. ’15 Missed Calls’ has more of an emotional kick whilst they choose to finish the set with ‘Don’t Pull Up.’
On the way out I overhear a lady saying “I enjoyed it, but I couldn’t tell you the name of a single track they played.” That is kind of a decent summary of where they are at, they are a really enjoyable band – they just need a couple of absolutely recognisable radio-ready killer singles to take them to the next level. Given everything on display tonight you feel like they will produce them sooner rather than later. Energy, professionalism and great stage presence – this is a rock band to get behind.
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