Dominoes, Big Smile Revival, Arron Ellis and Friends, Bedroom Vacation at Outpost Liverpool - 12 Feb

We hooked up with our colleagues the Liverpool psychedelic Society to put on a psych event at Outpost in Liverpool. These musical pirates have been creating an underground wave of music for a few years Neo, outside most of what we can describe as the normal music scene and dedicated to ‘creating their own culture’ so its a bunch of LPS veterans from Bristol, Manchester and more local acts that we hosted at Outpost.

Dominoes are the brainchild of psych veteran Dominic Lewington and tonights lineup is a duo. A simple two guitar setup. I find it a refreshing. Dominics acoustic guitar is accompanied by an electric guitar and its a measured performance. The electric guitar enhances the songs perfectly. The eclectic lyrics and stretched vocal delivery are brought to the fore in this format. Dom is becoming one of my favourite performers to watch and listen too. There’s a musical gentleness that is touching. The addition of the chiming and excellently played electric guitar makes the songs shine. Its refreshing and different and I want to hear more than their brief set.

Bristols Big Smile Revival hit the stage with a large (and fucking loud) sound. They reference the heavy almost funk sound of say Hendrix but with a modern twist., The drums and Bass are an awesome rhythm section, with fluid and groove ridden baselines feeding the effects steeped guitar. There’s a lot of instrumental passages that show a brave band ready to make their own musical statement. The band are all superb musicians and they play tight, well crafted music that still has plenty of groove.

Aaron Ellis another old hand of the Liverpool Music Scene is accompanied tonight by some friends to bring to life his musical vision. Its paced with space as much as rhythm defining their sound. The drums hit up complex rhythms that show skill and dexterity and the baselines are constantly moving and shifting, add this to Arron’s psych sensibilities and their willingness as an outfit to experiment and you get an ethereal performance that has great musical moments and solid songs.

Manchester’s Bedroom Vacation have been an obsession of ours since first seeing them in their home town and then over in Leeds. This is a band that impressed early on as a twin guitar duo and now have added a much needed bass bottom end to their sound. They have Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine roots in their influences but they also hit on sheer 80s pop, albeit shrouded in a whirlwind of sound. Always they have strong melodies, I find their sound intoxicating, simple structures that are layered and made more complex with waves of melodies that are half hidden and yet jump out and become striking at just the right ,moment. I could listen to this band repeatedly.