Underground 57 at The Cavern Hong Kong

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The Underground lineup is never predictable and on this show we had everything from poppunk to Chicago blues with a runaway Train and The FBI throwing in an appearance.The poppunk element was provided by Senseless,who are Raymond(vocals),Kenny (guitar),Yuren (guitar)and Silim(drums).They are a young band still trying to find their sound.They started the set in jangly indiepop style but then changed direction on their next song to a more intense,upbeat emo style.The band played a good opening set and I wish the red rain hadn't deterred more people from showing up to give them some support.

Senseless at Underground 57



FBI live at Underground 57
F.B.I.Firebirdinternational are an explosive mixture of high energy,classic rock and punk.Cain on vocals has an excellent voice for the material and he also won over the local audience with his Cantonese, although almost upstaged by the extrovert bass player,Jerald!
FBI have definitely found their soun and it's it's a kickass one!By the end of the set ,the whole of the Cavern was jumping !



The Train are an excellent local band who don't indulge in onstage craziness but just let the music speak.They play an exciting,fast -paced blues-based rock .I just feel that they need to work on the songs more,get a better balance between vocals and instruments and they could be much stronger live.



Henry Chung All Stars Blues Band was almost too polished for an indie venue.Henry is an engaging front man who plays a mean blues harmonica and is also the bandleader.The lineup features not one but two awesomely good lead guitars ,bass,drums,and saxophone.Henry introduced us blues newbies into the secrets of Chicago blues and by the end of his set I think most people were on the floor jumping around ,including some of the other band members in the audience!My favourite song was 'Hong Kong Blues''!

Underground 56 at Club Cixi

Kissing on the Dancefloor

Gaze

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The Underground shows are never predictable and this one managed to cover most bases in terms of indie music genres from britpop with Audiotraffic to metalcore with Eve of Sin,with some Canadian experimentalism and Nepalese acoustic protest rock as well!In fact the show was so noisy and exciting that there was a police 'raid'!
First on were Gaze ,a young band with rock /shoegaze influences.they kicked off with 'Spoiled Kids', a fairly rocky number but on 'After 7 Years ' the guitar sounds became increasingly fuzzy and shoegazy much to my liking.We need more hk bands prepared to follow in the trails blazed by Ride,Slowdive and other great bands of the 90s pre Britpop and to give it their own special hong kong twist!





I'd say that Kissing on The Dancefloor have a lot of potential and are just as exciting as the name suggests with their mix of britpop and shoegaze!





Fusilli Project are an experimental,electronic duo based in Hong Kong and Canada.Their sound is an amazing blend of electronica,all kinds of weird percussion,wooden flute and erhu,mixed with some otherwordly vocals, a little like a chill out session in a buddhist monastery.




My favourite song was 'A Thousand Mile Journey'.


I guess that most local fans came to see Audiotraffic,one of Hong Kong's best indie bands.The band played mainly songs well known to their fans like 'Better?','Lost City' and 'Way too Long'. This band just get better every time.They have one of the best vocalists on the Hong Kong indie band scene,warm but with an edge that takes it out of the realms of 'pop'.On this set ,the band loked quite relaxed and like they were soaking up the warm vibes from the audience.




Eve of Sin are a metalcore core band.Their set was so loud that it even attracted the attention of the cops who surreally made an entrance during their set!

Queen Sea Big Shark live in Hong Kong

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Around 200 Hong Kong indie music fans erwe packed into the Fringe Club's intimate venue on friday night for a chance to see the much raved about Beijing band QueenSea Big Shark.




Queen Sea Big Shark at the Fringe

The band's set showcased their new album and showed just why QSBS are considered one of Beijing's best bands.

The band play a spiky,hook-laden garage rock with pounding drums from Xiao Wu,infectious guitar riffs from Cao Pu,strident bass from Wang Jinghan and of course in Wu han,the band have one of the current scene's most appealing vocalists,giving a great performance and taking time between songs to communicate with the audience-she even made a foray into the crowd in her enthusiasm!
'Get Away' by Queen Sea Big Shark

Underground 55 at The Cavern

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Review with videos ..........

Underground 55 was a mix of jazz from Topao,poprock from Chochukmo and Thinking Out Loud and and postpunk shoegaze from The Yours.
I guess most indie music fans wouldn't expect jazz to be a form of alternative music although at one time it certainly was.Anyway ,it was an interesting opening set from Topao with some excellent big band numbers played in a classic style.


This was my second chance to se Chochukmo and I like them more and more.They started off in a blitz of jagged yet melodic guitar and vocals.Guitar riffs are jagged and energetic but swiftly blen into harmious interludes.Their songs are written in a freeflowing style,with excellent harmonies but this high-energy,jangly indie band seem happiest when they're rocking out.
noisy ,melodic indie along the lines of The Fratellis.I loved the whole set but my favourite was 'Strawberry'.
The band have an EP scheduled for this year 'God save Chairman Mao'-No, God save Chochukmo!








Thinking Out Loud almost put too much into their set and look as if they're still finding their style.The band play raw and gritty rock with a jazzy feel and some flowing lead guitar.Chris leads the band well on vocals and rhythm guitar Songs like 'Moving On ' and 'People' were classic rock while 'Rock and Roll Machine'with the sax player's anguished vocals hinted at something darker followed by 'Fire' a cover of the classic Jimi Hendrix song .The band finished their set with the upbeat indiepop of 'I'm Gonna Be Famous' and the more garage rock sounds of 'sex Junkie.'










The Yours are one of the best young bands on the Hong Kong indie music scene.
Their sets are always different,intriguing and apart from Jack (vocals,guitar) and Nic (vocals,bass),there may be a variety of band members from show to show. Their music is rooted in the shoegaze sounds of Creation label bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine,although its easy to detect influences from 80s bands like The Cure and Joy Division. Just like those band's The Yours are dark and introspective .Tonight's set was excellent with lots of moody vocals and a new version of 'Black Curse' by Nic.However experimental the songs were ,the band always have a tight,rhythmic core in their sound and the songs always build to a climax.The band never play the same set on any gigs so it's always exciting to see their shows.You must check out this band live if you love the darker side of indie especially 80s bands like The Cure,My Bloody Valentine..





Another great set from the band and some signs of the new,more experimental direction the band are taking.

Underground 54 at Club Cixi Hong Kong

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Saturday night in Lan Kwai Fong.A chance to check out some new indie music from Hong Kong .Underground 54 gave us high energy rap from Leo 37,fuzzed out indie rock from Hazden,numetal from Zoundz and polished britpop from Skindeep and David Bowie Knives.
Underground fans are an eclectic bunch, just like the bands that play there.At Underground 54 we had everything from rap to britpop with some numetal too.Maybe we didn't love all the bands but we had a chance to find out more about the new indie music scene in hong kong.Often the opening acts here ease us gently into the main show.Not this time with Leo37 ,a young Canadian rapper full of energy ,charm ,an amazing gift for improvised lyrics with the help of 2 turntables and a microphone.At the start the crowds were barely arriving and he moodily yelled something about it being 'livelier at his grandmother's'.However as the place began to fill up ,and his song/rap 'Move It!' got us going the place started to come to life.Leo was like a combination of Kanye West with the funk of LLCool J .In fact he was so good that he was asked to do an end of show encore with Hazden!





Hazden were a revelation.In spite of the fact that they were second on,they amazed me and a lot of the audience.Faye's vocals are excellent with good range and she can move from chilly,etherial to full power rock style in a way that combines well with the band's discordant,raucous,fuzzed - out guitar sound.I think the songs ranged from subjects as wide as surfing and suicide and her vocal style fitted well with the fuzzed - out ,slightly punk sounds of Cheong on lead guitar,Yiu on rhythm,Lun on bass and Lok on drums.This band were also so good that they came on again at the end of the show!It's amazing that the band only formed a few months ago-I'd love to see more of them.




Next on was numetal band Zoundz who besieged us with some raw heavy sounds,anguished vocal yells from Ivan,high volume fast guitar from Frankie,David and Wil and crashing drums from Ray with a whole range of influences from Korn to Incubus on display.
Zoundz are Ivan (vocals),Frankie(guitar,David(guitar),Wil (bass)and Ray (drums).They played a raucous set with classic metal riffs and touches of punk on songs like 'Hate You,Hate Myself'.




Skindeep consists of Nick (vocals,guitar,keyboard ),Mike (lead guitar,vocals),David (guitar,bass),Brendan (drums.The band experienced and have a smooth,polished sound but still maintain some darker elements like bands they cite as influences,Del Amitri and The Killers as some of the song titles might suggest like 'No One's In','Leaving','Twist of Fate'.The band had some good britpop style songs and a rocking sound.The band are Nick (vocals,guitar,keyboard),Mike (lead guitar,vocals and Brendan (drums).






David Bowie Knivesare Brendan (vocals,guitar),Shaun (vocals,bass) and Gabe (drums).
The band has a polished ,britpop sound with just enough of an edge to keep it interesting.The Knives had a pleasant sound and their songs like 'She's The One'(fortunately not a Robbie Williams cover!),Nice Problem' and 'You Want Me'ended the evening on an upbeat indierock note at least until the endshow when Leo37 and Hazden gave us some freestyle jamming and rapped(!) up another Underground.

Lonely China Day-Sorrow

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Lonely China Day had a good year 1n 2007,and there's a real buzz about the band in Asia and also the USA where they featured in the famous SXSW festival.The band have been hailed as an Asian Sigur Ros but although the texture is definitely post rock there's still a pure rock feel to the band.The album is an exciting mix of folk rock with new age electronica and post rock.Just like The Arcade Fire's 'Neon Bible ',the titles and lyrics may be downbeat but the overall mood is celebratory and upbeat.
The album lifts off slowly with 'Prelude',all delicate synthesizer and wistful lyrics ,followed by 'Thou 'with its brooding electronica and
haunting lyrics about a 'land of wealth,a man begging'.
One of my favourite tracks is the beautifully titled 'Red Blossom of plum and Me'.The song,based on a traditional Tang dynasty poem,is a perfect blend of tradition and modernity and the expressive lyrics are a perfect match for Deng Pei's expressive vocals.'One'is much more simple as if to reinforce the directness of the passionately sung lyrics ;'Land of wealth/A man begging'.

LONELY CHINA DAY 'The Child' LIVE




Songs like 'The Future' and 'Foraging China ' are much more upbeat.almost straight indie rock numbers and more like the band's live sets.

Underground 53 at The Cavern

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Underground 53 opened with an excellent set from Pick Pak Zhai who played a freestyle set with influences of jazz,funk and pop.The band are winners of Asia Beat and are Angel/Fiona (vocals)Nick (keyboard),Michael (drums) and Arion (bass).....They opened their set with 'Get Drunk ',a punchy ,funky number and then continued in a more jazzy,Norah Jones style with catchy guitar hooks on 'Out of the Mouth'.Next song 'Impatient ' was upbeat,with an infectious melody.The band then changed mood with 'Winter Swim ',a more romantic indie pop style number with a latin feel over which Angel's vocals lazily drifted.Next song 'Famous People 'was more jazz funk before the band finished their set with 'Without Him ',a bluesy uptempo song with clever basslines,crashing drums and excellent jazz rock guitar.
All in all,an awesome opening set for a band with great promise.






The Ember played a set that was dark,moody and passionate and with a much more rock feel.
The set opened with 'In This Hole' an emo song with lots of passionate vocals that went down well.Next song 'Thursday ' had a slower intro but progressed to an impressively raucous climax.In the following songs ' No One ' and 'Forgive' the pace and emotional intensity picked up and the band left the stage to loud applause.




Bone Table were a revelation to me.They play an accomplished,dark country blues style that reminds me of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.They have some great songs from the bluesy opener 'Black Sedan' through the Clash type punk of' Taxi to Wanchai' to the rockabilly blues of 'Sugar Baby' with Van Morrison style vocals.The band's second song was the 'SF country blues' Giant Electric Flying Insect' followed by 'Takematsu Joe ' a tale of a Japanese yakuza, and 'Like a Man',a tight rocking country blues sounding like the soundtrack to a Roberto Rodriguez western.'You're Wrong ' was more country rock before the uptempo ,punk style 'Taxi to Wanchai '.'Get Moving On ' was country ,bluesy rock before the band hit us with 'Sugar Baby ' ,a racing country rock number in a rockabilly style before racing to a climax with 'Sorry'.





Helter Skelter have little connection to the Beatles song of that name except for a strong desire to rock out.They played a blues based rock that really got the audience jumping after the delayed arrival of their lead vocalist.The band opened with some blues jamming in the style of The Yardbirds or John Mayall on 'Funk Ass Jam ' and 'Ten Past Ten ' but after the main vocalist arrived on stage the set got rougher and rockier like some classic early American R&B and country rock on 'Say You say Love' and 'the rockier 'Delusions'.Keyboardist Adrian took back the vocals on the more romantic 'Don't Wanna Have to Lose You' before the band brought their set to a close with the uptempo rock of 'Hey ' and 'Honest With You' by which point the audience were going crazy with all sorts of wild dancing on the floor.

Underground 52 at Club Cixi Hong Kong

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Les Ailes live at Club Cixi
First band on were were Les Ailes,a local band influenced by Japanese outfit L'Arc en Ciel.They have been around since 2002 but their latest line-up ,dating from 2007 is Marvin (vocals,guitar),Kinyat(lead guitar),Arthur (bass),Eddy (drums) and Sayaka (keyboards).The band played a mixture of indie pop and rock set with a very emo flavour.The sound balance between vocals and could have been better.Favourite songs were Rebirth and their closing number The Simple Days. They look promising in this format but still need to work on their material and live act.





F.T.T. were next on but for me this band were the highlight of the show,even though Transnoodle played a great set.
The band are Po Kei (vocals,guitar),Jonathan,(guitar),Donald (bass) and Edmund (drums).In Po Kei the band have a charismatic lead man and their rhythmic pop,rockabilly style set soon got the audience jumping.Po Kei had great rapport with the audience and was a highly energetic frontman.The band are influenced by 80s /90s guitar bands and they play in a driving rock style very similar to the Strokes but with a lighter feel and the band obviously loved playing their set almost as much as the audience did.The band started off in top gear and kept going with songs like 'Let Me Go','I Feel Fine' as well as some new material.Donald the bassist told me later that the band have lots of songs.Lets hope the band are playing soon so that we can hear some more!






Luxury have been playing together since 1998 and have one EP as well as several other recordings .The band are Leong(vocals),hang (guitar),Kee (bass) and Simon (drums).They opened their set with a fast-paced song with jagged guitar,followed by a radioheadish song with downbeat vocals and melancholic guitar accompaniment.Next song was more upbeat with a driving beat,some great hooks and a big chorus.By this time the band seemed to really be getting into their set and finished with an indie rock song with a driving rhythm and a relaxed,garage band feel.



Headlining were Transnoodle whose brand of ska/punk really blew the crowd away.Just think Madness/Pogues Hong Kong style! punk mixed with reggae won over the the crowd.The band eased into their set with a bluesy version of 'Port Royal' with some Beafheart type gravelly vocals from Josh and excellent backup from lead guitar,rhythm,bass,drums,trumpet and saxophone!With songs like 'Ferry Pier' and 'Hong Kong' ,'Poh Wah Yuen',"Down the Deli' and the band's feelgood,infectious ska
punk mixed with reggae soon won over the audience who were jumping,dancing and generally having a great time!