Never Enough Notes e-zine // reviews + interviews + music

Saturday of Sound City saw me flagging a bit, after Black Lips had destroyed me mentally and physically the previous night. But, with no time to feel sorry for myself, I tackled the only day of the weekend that staged events during the day. Granted, the major one I attended was a barbecue, but still, this city festival stuff takes it out of you…

The one band I did see on Saturday afternoon, and one of my favourite new discoveries in the last few months was DZ Deathrays. Formerly known as DZ before confusion with an American DJ forced them into changing their moniker, the Australian duo played a courtyard gig at Heebie Jeebies in the afternoon. There are more than a handful of similarities to Death From Above 1979, but less emphasis on effects and more on riffs so jagged you could cut yourself on them. It was sweaty, chaotic and more than a bit brilliant – a perfect start to Sound City Saturday.

We chilled for a while, in fact too long. Completely losing track of time, I missed out on seeing Over The Wall at The Masque, who were one of the bands I was looking forward to most. Genuinely annoyed with myself, I walked over to The Masque (too late, by this point) kicking myself the entire way.

West London’s Foxx Bandits showed The Masque Loft exactly why they’ve been experiencing so much success in the South, with a storming set that opened with their shoegaze cover of MIA’s ‘Paper Planes’. The sound was a little bit messy at points, but that only added a bit more fuzz to the shoegaze aesthetic.

We stayed for a little bit of Fixers, but they weren’t my thing, so had a few drinks and got ready for Fucked Up. The preparation was entirely necessary. With hirsute male nakedness, blood-curdling screaming and a portion of the audience that seemed to have stumbled into The Kazimier by accident, Fucked Up tore Sound City to pieces. There’s some shows you just have to see for yourself to believe.

All in all, I didn’t get to see as many bands as I wanted to on the Saturday. As I said in my Thursday review, at festivals like these you need to accept that you’re going to miss quite a few acts and prioritise as much as possible. Sound City is a great example of what can be done in a relatively small area of venues, and I’d recommend it to anyone. It seems to get better and better every year.

Band of the day: DZ Deathrays