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Nick Morgan and crew
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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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SOULSAVERS
The Relentless Garage, Highbury
London
August 27th 2009
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| Isn’t
it great when someone plays you music by a band
that you’ve never really heard before and
you just fall for it on the spot – like love
at first sight? Especially when it’s one of
your children. |
| That’s
what happened to me in the late summer when I was
lucky enough to hear some pre-release tracks by
the Soulsavers,
from their now released third album Broken. So taken
was I by the very distinctive mournful groove that
the band set up that I went out the following day
and bought album number two: It’s Not How
Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land. This
is an immense piece of work which begins with ‘Revival’,
quite simply one of the most mesmerizing songs I’ve
heard in a long while. If ever there was a plea
for redemption that we could all identify with,
just a little bit, then it’s in this wonderfully
powerful song. That it comes from the pen and lips
of Mark
Lanegan only gives the sentiment added potency.
Lanegan, former Screaming Trees and Queens of the
Stone Age vocalist, one half of the Gutter
Twins, and recent collaborator with former Belle
and Sebastian singer Isobel
Campbell, has, as they say, been through the
mill. His journey from Seattle’s emerging
grunge scene to Stoke-on-Trent’s Soulsavers
has apparently taken him through more than a generous
helping of all of the vices associated with ‘the
rock and roll lifestyle’; “I drank so
much sour whiskey I can hardly see” go the
lyrics of one of his songs (‘One way street’
from 2001’s Field Songs), apparently not so
much of an understatement,. Lanegan’s clean
of addictions for now, there’s no drinking
on stage, and apparently the after-show parties
aren’t a lot of fun. But his singing is enough
to stop you in your tracks, and if anything it’s
better on stage than on the record. |
| And
who are these Soulsavers? Hard to say, really. Originally
a production and re-mixing duo from the Potteries,
with a penchant for the electronic, they are Rich
Machin and Ian Glover, who also have a successful
sideline in writing film-scores. Their collaboration
with Lanegan extends to their last two albums but
has also brought in a host of other writers, musicians
and vocalists, including Will Oldham, Richard Hawley,
Jason Pierce and fellow-contributor’s to the
latter’s Spiritualized.
But in terms of style they have come a long way
from their first album, and Broken has a distinctive
guitar-led earthy blues sound which is even more
emphatic performed live. Rich Warren, sometime of
Spiritualized, Starsailor and The
Cold Light of Day contributes much of the guitar
on the last two albums, and is on stage wielding
a frighteningly effective Fender Jaguar along with
Machin (playing rhythm guitar and keyboards), and
bass player Martyn
Lenoble, Red
Ghost on keyboards and vocals, and a sadly unidentified
drummer. It’s Warren who almost steals the
show with an insistent and aggressive performance
that almost takes over from where Marc Ford, playing
with Booker T Jones a few weeks before, left off.
There’s lot of tremolo arm action, even more
near-feedback and plenty of power. But that’s
to discount Lanegan, apparently a foolish thing
to do: “I would want Mark on my side in a
street brawl. He’s one of those guys”
said bassist Duff McKagan in an interview last year. |
| Lanegan
follows the band onto the stage and takes a position
in the centre which he occupies, almost unmoving,
for the whole set. He’s not brawling, but
he’s a big man, a powerful brooding figure
swathed in shadow, who says nothing until he finally
leaves the stage, post-encore, with a gruff but
not grudging “Thanks very much”. The
recently-refurbished Garage at Highbury Corner,
it’s actually called the Relentless Garage
but the only relentless thing about it is the heat,
is full of record company types (one of whom very
kindly got me the ticket, a rare piece of ligging
on the part of your reviewer) and Lanegan adorers.
They’re waiting for him, and although the
gig only lasts sixty minutes they’re not to
be disappointed. |
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| Any
longer might either have been overwhelming, or over-doing
it. The timing was perfect. As was Lanegan’s
gloomy growl of a voice, as the band worked through
songs from the last two albums, with the addition
of an unlikely ZZ Top cover, Jesus Just Left Chicago.
Highlights? Well certainly Oldham’s ‘You’ll
miss me when I burn’, Gene Clark’s ‘Some
misunderstanding’ and ‘Unbalanced pieces’,
all from Broken. But the two special moments for
me were ‘Jesus of nothing’ and the final
encore, the aforementioned ‘Revival’.
And it’s all about the intensity of the voice,
matched by Warren’s tormented guitar. You
know, there are times when you can hear more than
echoes of the Alabama
3 in the sound of the Soulsavers, and you could
occasionally think that Lanegan is pulling off a
mean Larry Love impersonation. But for all their
faux menace and outlaw behaviour there’s never
a joke too far away in an A3 performance; that’s
part of their appeal. There are no jokes with Lanegan
and the Soulsavers. When Lanegan pleads for a revival,
and for “this dark night to be done’,
he really means it. - Nick Morgan. |
| Listen
(and watch): Soulsavers featuring Mark
Lanegan, promo clip for 'Revival' |
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the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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There's nothing more down there... |
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