The Cube Microplex - 20th November 2006

Thoughtforms the next band, started with ambient washes of effects driven gtrs hovering in the air like a vapour of nocturnal shadows, tangled lines of fuzzy/fizzing electronics. The girl guitarist was hunched over her amp coaxing divine squalls and bass heavy rumbles. From these tranquil beginnings they launched into a deceptively jangly detour that quickly ascended into some marvellous pyramids of sound complete with cut up junctions / intersections, then clearing without any of the momentum being lost.

The background slowly built up again into some delightful blizzards of interlocking noise. As one tune ebbed away in a rinse of effects, the next rose effortlessly as if umbilically tied to the fading memory of the last. Really enjoyed that novel use of the input jacks, the resulting depth charges of sound scarring the air, and those weighty drums that thundered behind the guitar lines. Thoughtforms were amazingly proficient, creating tight hooks that would in turn be sabotaged beautifully, playfully mixing up all those influences – the explosiveness of early Pumpkins, the riff-tastic glow of Hovercraft, that taut n metallic sound of Sonic Youth (chiming as KEK so aptly put) circa ‘Evol', Rothko, Ride, Slowdive, Loop, the list was endless, they just bled this stuff all over their performance in a giddy concoction that was new, inventive and worthy of your attention. It's a pity my camera died on me, as I can't share the incendiary forms the two guitarists were making when truly wigging out. Annoyingly enough, the camera seemed to work again for MV and EE before finally running out of juice towards the end of their set.

 

by Cloudboy, Rotten Meats.