25 Feb 2011

Soundlab review of Teeth Of The Sea's British Sea Power tour support




Teeth of the Sea, who wander onto stage as if they've been plucked from four different bands. Their mixture of scientist crossed with punk throwback look could be summarised as Geek Geek Sputnik, perhaps. However, this would do them a disservice and they produce a mesmerising instrumental noise that bemuses much of the audience but is simply excellent. With the guitarist's 'Flying V' guitar and rock god persona and at one stage the use of a beer bottle for the frets, you'd expect hair rock riffs of the mid 80s to be produced. However with the regular use of e-bow and effects the sound that emerges is lush and reverb drenched.

A simple repetitive drumming pattern from the stand up drummer and electronics drives the four song set along, allowing the bassist/trumpeter to set the melody. The overall sound at different times takes elements from King Crimson-esque prog, space rock, drone, goth, metal, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Sonic Youth, Earth, Black Sabbath and electronic glitchiness, and is far more than the sum of its parts. They are far more organic than many bands that trudge a similar path, playing all the sounds live rather than padding their set with pre-recorded electronics, and are a superb, if an odd choice for BSP's support. Whereas kindred spirits Factory Floor pummel you into submission, Teeth of the Sea entrance and enthral and on this form blow BSP away. A quote from a BSP fan behind suggests that Teeth of the Sea are the wrongest looking band in the world, "gloriously wrong". I would suggest they are gloriously right.

See in full here

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