A new band for us in the form of Thee Rag n Bone Man. When we say band its one guy. However the noise output by this one person is substantial. He’s there on stage with a wilda ray of gadgets and most of a drum kit. Its all held together by Heath Robinson contraptions and willpower.
It’s this willpower that becomes apparent throughout Rag n Bone Mans performance. This is a tour de force of tightly controlled musical rage. There is no let up, this guy is producing more sonic waves than most bands would be lucky to achieve with a full lineup. The drums are tight, the guitar is wild, the vocals attack the audience. It’s an incredible thing to see and hear and many watching are slack jawed with astonishment.
The one man band thing aside, musically its aggressive with punk meets metallic influences, Black Flag chunking away one minute then apocalyptic blues. Atop this are some powerful vocals with political lyrics decrying the state of affairs we find ourselves living through. Powerful, amazing musicianship, great songs. A must see.
Code Break are rolling now, they’ve played a lot of gigs lately and it shows. Slicker, tighter, all the fat trimmed off (Editor: ?!) Another brutal assault on the ears and still sounding different from most hardcore bands, still able to hang on to a groove or musical phrase until it builds up tension that can only be released when the band hit their musical crescendo.
The Dry Retch area other band with a lot of recent gigs (and reviews by us) under their belt. This gang of older troopers could show younger bands how to do it. From acerbic banter, to flat out noise warfare it all keeps accelerating as the band throw shapes and demonstrate what it’s like to be at the top of your craft.
Words and Photos : RichieYates
Links:
The Rag n Bone Man Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theeragnbonemanonemanband
Code Break Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CodeBreak138
Dry Retch Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDryRetch