New Year / New Noise 2 at Arnolfini, 17th January

Going to a gig where you know none of the acts can be a little hit-or-miss, but I’ve done it a few times now and as long as you’ve got a reliable source giving you recommendations, you’ll probably leave with something to talk about.  Generally I rely on my friend Nick to bug me into coming to shows, but this time I brought him along to Howling Owl’s New Year / New Noise 2, because I’d been following the label for a while but never actually been to any of their gigs. Plus, their shows are always really decently priced.

image from the Arnolfini website

The floor of the Arnolfini auditorium was decked out with plants and old TV screens showing the Howling Owl logo, Naturals artwork, and looping animations. It was exactly the kind of thing you’d expect from an Arnolfini / Howling Owl collab, and it wasn’t long before the first act, Salope, came onto the floor.

Salope dresses in all-black with a scarf covering half his face and plays what looks like the skeleton of a cello – trust me, it looks pretty interesting. He seemed like a video game character creating his own soundtrack. His music is drone-y and progresses through different moods during the set, sometimes with a cinematic feel. The set was more like one long performance than a series of songs, but the changes in melody kept the audience’s attention.

The next act to perform was Wenonoah, who is Howling Owl’s newest signing. Wenonoah’s set began with her making the sounds of the sea by breathing into the microphone, with her hands mimicking waves coming up to a sea wall. The performance felt very intimate, with soft, personal lyrics and a simple keyboard accompaniment. Every song felt like you were being told a secret by this woman, and the performance felt very organic. The only song that differed from this was one that began with the lyrics “she’s so fucking precious / I’m sure that she shits diamonds”, which started everyone laughing, and made Wenonoah seem even more human than her quieter, slower songs.

Killing Sound were next on stage. This group was made up of four guys: three (including solo act Vessel) playing synths and keyboards, and one reading spoken word pieces over the top. It sounds a lot more artsy than it was, and honestly I think these guys were my favourite act of the night because every song seemed so well-timed and like a network of sounds that just fitted together really well. The spoken-word part of the act made me think of them as a very far-removed version of The Streets, with those personal, stream-of-consciousness lyrics being read over music, although I think Killling Sound have placed as much thought into the music as they have the words, making their act more balanced and cohesive. Most of the music sounded pretty experimental, but every now and then a simple beat would come into it, like the ones that come pre-programmed on a keyboard, and the performers and audience would start reacting and dancing to it. Killing Sound seem to work really well as a group, combining their different layers of sound to create something pretty unique.

The penultimate act was drone duo Vision Fortune, two men playing synths, keyboards, and bass guitar. Their sound was sometimes similar to The Horrors, with strong basslines and repeating lyrics. Their songs all had a similar feel to them, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It was nice to have a more stable sound after the more drone-focused or experimental acts. To be honest I was a little distracted during Vision Fortune’s set because of the girl who decided to start her own interpretive dance / aerobics routine right at the front of the crowd. She took of her shoes and everything.  Those artsy types.

Standing room suddenly became a lot more crowded just before The Naturals were due to come on, and I was pretty surprised by how big a following they seemed to have. The band has some pretty catchy songs, with steady drums and bass rhythms (played by Gnarwhals member Felix, hi Felix) underneath sharp guitar melodies and echoing, screaming lead vocals. The Naturals were really energetic and put out a lot of sound, and it was probably just because I was tired but I wasn’t really feeling the amount of distortion that went on over the vocals. Maybe this was just because of the acoustics of them playing live, or maybe I just need to listen to them a little more. The Naturals have gained a solid following recently, and it’s clear that they’re dedicated to their music.

New Year / New Noise 2 was a pretty varied night, but it was totally worth going to see these acts and experience something new. Although they probably won’t reach mainstream music any time soon, it’s definitely worth having a listen for yourself, because you might find one of your new favourite bands of the year.

Howling Owl’s next shows are Alex G at the Cube on 2^nd March, followed by Spectres’ album launch in a secret location on the 7^th.