Photos: The Eye of the Spider with I Like Cats and Yes Nukes – Club 77, 14th May 2009

Club 77 has long held a reputation as a den of filth, debauchery and filthy debauchery. On the night I showed up not much had changed.

Opening act Yes Nukes delivered a passionate set of high energy post punk. The bass player and guitarist were both furious and skilled in their delivery but the drummer was the definite focus for me. Watching the speed with which he churned out fills was amazing, even more so when you consider the fact he was singing almost the whole time.

Next act i like cats, having long been a Music Feeds favourite, were why I was there that night. Not having seen them since they returned from travelling abroad over summer I was blown away by the improvement in not only the bands playing but the song structures.

Mexican bassist Jaie Gomez Gonzalez, having lost his dirty sanchez moustache, was the most marked improvement having gained a real mastery over his effects pedals, building shimmering walls of sound that set the stage for the ball-flooring tsunami of postrock the band deliver.

Guitarist/songers Rollo Anderson and Dylan Baskind both showed their steady hands and heaving glands, both demonstrating how to rock the fuck out while still remaining calm. Anderson’s scream in crowd favourite Monster was well worth a shilling or two, while Cellist Dominic Mercer could’ve have asked me for all the money I had and I’d have given it to him. Drummer William Newton Johnston put on quite a show, hitting the skins with the ferocity of a mountain lion that woke up halfway through being neutered.

I can’t stress how good this band can be when you catch them on a good night. Having seen them again a few days later at Progfest, the band delivering a set somewhat less impressive than this one, I must stress that they’re not perfect. Yet.

Anyway the last band for the night was Eye Of The Spider. The band is sort of an indie rock super group with the bewitching and bedazzling Aleesha Dibbs on keys, Lucas from Atrocities on bass and Marc Silvers from Perfect Sandwich Records on guitar.

The lead singer Ariel, one of the only two members in the band without another project, has a voice you’d expect to find in a 300 pound black woman rather than in Ariel’s four feet of whiteness. Irrespective of her anachronistic voice, she delivers in a way that, regardless how many people try to kill or rape me tomorrow, is somewhat reminiscent of Janis.

As a whole though, the band have really come into their own. While particular members, such as guitarist Marc, may fall out of time or hit bum notes here and there, when the band pull it all together they produce a quite biblical sound. I’m happy to say on this night they succeeded.

Anyway after the gig I finished out the night in true 77 style, sharing a needle with a hooker. As I passed out on Miss Burt’s stubbly shoulder there wasn’t a single bad thought in my mind. Great gig.

Photos by Tynan Curry