The Verge, apparently, is starting to be regarded as London’s answer to C.B.G.B’s (famous NYC rock club which witnessed the birth of punk for those not in the know). I was there to see one of Nottingham’s finest: Designer Babies, who were supporting New York City’s Gang Gang Dance. The Verge is quite a strange little venue as the stage is triangular and right by the entrance towards one side.

I never found out the name of the first band, but they weren’t that great, I mean they were fairly decent musicians but overall their sound was bland and dull, though I dug the hard-hitting drumming. Personally I’m bored of all these bands where every member has to dress the same/perform in a certain way, where they have to structure songs: verse, chorus, verse, etc. like it’s the sacred underlying tenet to music, and then always offer you the obligatory “here’s my amazing air-guitar solo - aren’t I a guitar god?” kind of shit, where they regard the lyrics as all-important and more meaningful than the actual sound; yr actual tunes are a far more expressive way with communing with yr audience. I figure if yr going to make music you should make it first and foremost for yrself, not to appease the masses with banal, saccharine flavours, forcing yr trite shite upon them; and if no one else likes it then that’s their fuking problem.

The Designer’s couldn’t care less if they were accepted by the masses or not, with a sound like theirs they don’t expect to be and that’s what making them sound so great, especially live, they have individuality etc. down to their core. Think good ol’ dirty raw blues w/ the crazeeeness of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band meeting up with the Boredoms , Melt Banana and Ruins, add a wee bit of Mauritian folk and then the grinding intensity found within groups on Ipecac/Load records and you’ve just about got their sound. They number: Mark (Dusty Bible) on Geetar/Bass/Backing vocals, Kate (Kate Amean) on Laptop/ Mixer/ Samples/Theremin, Nick (Nick Ateen) on Drums and Kush (Sir Kush D) on Vocals and any random implement he happens to have with him (this time a cow bell). They kicked-off with a Blues improv, Kush immediately abandoned the constraints of performing on stage by throwing himself around the audience, lunging out at people like a maniac. They played a mixture of old and new material. During ‘The Ballad of Ed Gein’ Kush was pretending to have a breakdown which was pretty amusing to watch (though a bit O.T.T), later on he ran rings around this geezer filming him nearly pushing him over in the process and spent much of his time singing on his back acting like he was having seizures, but he was up and about for ‘Boombaclot’, their ragga inspired number, which they pulled off well as it’s the last thing you’d expect them to do. This is a band not afraid to experiment with and indulge themselves in their wide arrange of influences and also to do the unexpected. They ended with ‘R.Mutt’ the B-side to ‘Baghdad Boogie’ (their first single with Nottingham’s mighty Gringo Records- home to many other brilliant bands). They are a compelling, amusing and eye-catching live act, though perhaps Kush’s flamboyant energy takes the attention away from the other talented souls but they seem happy enough to get on with producing their own sound.

Gang Gang Dance are apparently a group more used to playing in art galleries than in clubs. They fuse together elements of Middle Eastern and Asian music with experimental rock and electronica and as a result create lush vistas of somnolent calm which you can either groove or chill out to. It is music to lose yrself in. They consist of three guys on Drums, Guitar and Keyboard’s and a lady Singer, though they all share a role in percussion, this being central to their music. They started off well, the Singer especially impressing me with her ethereal vocals, with the audience swelling at the front (most of them were here to see Gang Gang Dance as they rarely play in this country), but halfway through the Drummer suddenly stormed offstage, apparently the reason for this was that due to the shape of the stage and the drum kit being right in front of a concrete wall he could not hear the keyboards and as this interplay was essential to their music he just gave up, though, the other drummers, to their credit, just stuck to their guns and ignored not being able to hear the other members of their bands, maybe that’s why they both sounded so loose. After this, Gang Gang Dance’s set, having lost its way, developed more into an improv session with various members of the band trying their hands on the drums in an attempt to salvage something from their performance. Nick from the Designer Babies leapt onstage to the rescue and started crashing about on the drums, giving a sterling performance, but by this time Gang Gang Dance had pretty much given up and after ten minutes or so the gig just fizzled out. As I later left the venue I noticed the Keyboardist outside a newsagents, standing in the rain, looking really pissed off, drumming against a rubbish bin. I enjoyed the gig though, despite the letdown of Gang Gang Dance, regarding their premature exit.

It was a great London debut for the Designer Babies, if you like the sound of them then you should definitely see them next time they play in London and/or check out their new single- ‘Hot Baby Action’ on Olwyn Plant.

Review by Tristan Deane

www.designerbabies.net
www.gringorecords.com
www.olwynplant.com