Howie Reeve is supporting Cuz tonight, and perched below their mountain of kit & gadgets, he takes an opposite approach to making music: using only his voice and an acoustic bass guitar. This pared down approach doesn’t mean the guy lacks ideas though.
His hands are all over the bass guitar, making it squeak, rattle, twang and chime occasionally. Adding strange and poetic lyrics about “pound shop bathroom products” and “a solitary wasp”, it’s a unique set.
Occasionally it does get very odd: some sections are weird and proggy, with sudden changes in time signature and jolting dynamics. And although this (ahem, very) niche style of prog-acoustic-bass-street-poetry might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Howie’s performance is so honest and pure, it’s good to watch despite being a little challenging.
With CUZ comprising of Mike Watt from The Stooges, and Sam Dook from The Go! Team, expectations are high when they hit the stage, so they get straight into things with punky guitars, driving drums, and a charismatic spoken word piece.
The whole set is peppered with dialogue like this, either via Mike’s languorous drawl, Sam’s whimsical tone, or even sampled clips of speeches that are manipulated live using an entire table of production gizmos.
This is set to music that is ever changing and playful. It was as if when they were writing songs no idea was thrown out the window. Sea shanty on a toy keyboard? Guitars that sound like wasps? Creepy nursery rhymes through a delay pedal? Four minute drum solo? A singing fucking bowl?!?
ALL IN.
And that’s what makes CUZ so special. They effortlessly pull all this off in a spellbinding set without ever isolating the audience by being too obtuse and weird. One of the most imaginative bands going.
- Neil Landstrumm - 16 March 2016
- Ben Klock - 28 December 2015
- Yak / Hidden Charms/ DTHPDL - 8 December 2015
@isthismusic @sneakypetesclub @wattfrompedro Thanks for the edinburgh review
3 more ways to learn about last cuz tour: 1) review http://t.co/m8XM8ShMLC 2) review http://t.co/AG0FeGSasq 3) diary http://t.co/6S3KH3qjdI