AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, Turbowolf, The Coat Hangers @Wolves Slade Rooms 21/4/13

Now this is an odd one.

Always is when you come to a gig solely to see the support band and have only a vague knowledge of the group that is on the ticket. No matter, though, that’s the position that RTM finds itself in this evening.

Here because we absolutely love Turbowolf, we saw the headliners support the Foo Fighters about a decade ago and rather lost touch since, whatever else happens though, watching openers The Coat Hangers again will not high on our list of things to do.

It is a terrible name for a band, but one which, unfortunately matches their music. A female three piece, they are a new wave/punky affair, but one which to these ears is devoid of any tunes that we can find. They clearly do have ….Trail of Dead as fans, though, as bass man Autry Fullbright joins in on a couple of tracks – and the ladies clearly love the headliners too. Just not ones for us.

By contrast, Turbowolf very, very much are. Brilliant on record, but even better live, their half hour is a veritable tour de force. Essentially a collection of what appears to be collection of Bristol hippies they make a glorious racket that sounds like metal being played a weird synth over the top, topped off with the catchiest chorus’s you can think of. Except you can’t think of them, which is why Turbowolf exist.

Frontman Chris controls the whole thing expertly, and they reel off tracks from their astonishing debut record, like “Severed Heads,” “Rose For The Crows” and the incredible “Read and Write” with considerable aplomb.  They also find the time to unveil a new track “American Mirrors” which tells you that album number two is going to be a belter too. They finish off with “Lets Die!” and surely must have won themselves several hundred new fans. If you haven’t seen them make sure you do, as they quite amazing.

As RTM had shelled out our cash to see a band other than the headliners, we had already had our money’s worth by the time …Trail of Dead hit the stage about 15 minutes late. When we saw them with the Foos all those years ago we thought they were ok but not worth getting excited about. That is a view that still holds true. Although they are afforded a heroes reception by the crowd.

It’s easy to see why they are cult favourites too, intense, dark and surprisingly heavy it’s a decent guess that they are the type of band that if you are a fan of offer much. For us, though, they lack a little bit of charisma and many of their songs get to be a trifle samey.

They are not helped by sound and equipment problems, in particular, Conrad Keeley struggles with a mic stand and gets himself extremely angry. The faithful, however, lap it up and rightly so, but for us the evening was all about one band, and Turbowolf absolutely did not let us down. 

TURBOWOLF, Black Moth, Cytota @Birmingham Institute Library, 14/10/12

The last time RTM saw Cytota, buried deep on the Rise To Remain bill in the spring, we predicted big things for them. That remains the case after our second viewing of the band. In fact, they have come on leaps and bounds in terms of confidence and stage presence. “Between Jokers And Jesters” is heavier than they have been before, while “Scars” puts us in mind of Exit Ten. The suspicion remains that, despite a somewhat lacklusture crowd response here tonight, Cytota might be ones to watch.

As are main support on this tour, Black Moth. They too suffer from a poor response from the crowd, but while it might be forgivable that this predominately stoner based audience might not have been totally into Cytota, it is less clear why Moth didn’t create a buzz.

Singer Harriet Bevan, explains that she is delighted to be here as Birmingham is the home of some of her heroes. You would guess she just meant Black Sabbath, as pretty much immediately we are transported to the 1970s in the back of some heavy and dense riffing. Debut single. “The Articulate Dead” is typical of their sound and we can expect to see a lot more of them when the magazines pick up on them.

Of all the things RTM expected to see when we turned up to watch Bristol hippie-types Turbowolf was a moshpit, but it was time to leave preconceptions at the door as the four piece are a much different proposition live than you might expect.

In fact, while the inflatable sphinx backdrop is a bit naff, it is the only thing about the 50 stunning minutes that Turbowolf give us that is. Their self-titled debut album has bothered our iPod for a while, it says much, therefore that live they manage to take things up a few notches.

Monstrously heavy, there beats a real metal heart to songs “Seven Severed Heads” and “A Rose For The Crows,” in fact the speed of a number of the songs is picked up from the album versions.

Of course, there is nothing straightforward about this particular band of 70s enthusiasts, as their choice of covers show. Lightning Bolt’s “Captain Caveman” takes on almost thrash overtones in their hands, and Jefferson Starship’s “Somebody to Love” has never sounded quite like this before.

But it is their own compositions that really showcase the bands formidable talents. “Read And Write” is perhaps the catchiest weapon in their arsenal, with its massive chorus and stabs of synth from frontman Chris Georgiadis, but new song “12 Houses,” from an album due next year, runs it close.

It is said that critics struggle with the band as their influences are too diverse. However, one thing appears to be clear. By the time that “Let’s Die” brings things to a close, mere pigeonholing is not required.

How about this instead: Turbowolf are just brilliant.