 
Upstairs at the Oxford O2, possibly the smallest
live room in the history of O2 venues; but at
least there were no complaints about not being
able to see sufficiently. The Oceansize gear (particularly
the drum kit) took up quite a lot of the stage,
and there wasn't much stage to take up! In front
of these obstructions was a much smaller drum
kit, and four slight Northern Irish lads took
to the stage; this was Mojo Fury.
The singer/guitarist spoke softly into the microphone,
welcoming everyone and introducing themselves.
A strange mute pluck routine developed into a
pounding intro and inevitably became a great song,
full of energy, and an unexpectedly expressive
explosive vocal emanated from the front-man, dressed
in skinny black jeans and a tartan shirt. One
of the next tracks started off with a degree of
Modest Mouse, funky, catchy, jumpy – but
didn't retain the vibe and digressed back into
another expressive masterpiece. There was great
depth, texture, emotion, and catchy riffs –
hard to believe this tour was their first venture
out of Ireland. They played five or six tracks
which followed a similar formula (though in no
way boring!) including “The Colour of the
Bear(?)”, their début single “The
Mann”, and finally closed on my personal
favourite of the set; the epic “Run Away”.
An acoustic version is available on “The
Mann” single, but here we were treated to
the full experience – heartfelt vocals blended
with booming guitars, wickedly fast keyboard chords
manually emulating a pulsing synth, and general
wonderment. Despite a minor technical glitch involving
the keys, and the guitarist looking generally
uncertain when providing occasional irregular
backing vocals, they really were fucking ace.
Next up were This Town Needs Guns – one
of Oxford's finest jingle-jangly math-rock four-pieces.
Playing in their home-town their was clearly some
support for the lads as they opened their set
with “Chinchilla”, “Gibbon”
and “Baboon.” (Yes, they have an album
called Animals.) The most surprising aspect for
me, being familiar with the music they make, is
that there is only one guitarist. All that nuts
guitar-ing, is all performed by one chap. One
chap albeit, with gargantuan dexterous hands popping
up and down the fretboard with great ease. Calm
and collected, he twiddled out every plucking
plick without even a slight frown. While the singer
jumped and wiggled around, often doing a bizarre
skiing movement, or that thing skinny white boys
do with their hands when they try and sing along
to a famous rap song. My only quibble, which would
probably apply to a great deal of Math-rock, is
that if you don't know what's going on then it's
quite easy to lose your way. And in this instance,
it was all sounding quite similar. Yet, it was
still enjoyable, as the bassist would occasionally
joke with the audience. “Lemur” was
the final Animals track in the set; followed by
“26 is Dancier Than 4” which received
the best reception. The set ended on a new track
entitled “Al Fresco.”
Finally, it was Oceansize time. Opening with “Part
Cardiac” and “Build Us A Rocket Then”,
two of the heavier tracks off of the new album
Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up. “Part
Cardiac” lurches along with huge imposing
guitar and vocal bellows, whilst “Build
Us A Rocket Then” is explosively erratic
from the outset. After the brand new openers which
some might have not been familiar with, it was
time for some old favourites. “Unfamiliar”,
“New Pin” and the beautiful “Music
For A Nurse” was next up. The band looked
incredibly comfortable on stage, Mike Vennart
taking centre stage in a slim suit and converse,
with Steve Durose and Gambler to either side of
him offering a great depth of guitar tones, and
stunning backing vocals from Durose. Behind them
was the most recent addition to the squad, Steve
Hodson on bass, and Mark Heron on the drums.
Mike addressed the crowd:
“Sorry we're just trying to re-arrange
our set as we've been told we are going to go
over already. It's the recession, you know, people
have got to put club nights on to make money,
and that's absolutely fine... ...despite the fact
you've all paid to see a full set which you aren't
going to get.”
Which is absolutely right. Fuck you Propaganda.
You piece of shit. You take up all three rooms
of this venue, and yet you're going to kick out
everyone in the smallest one who has paid a tenner
to be there and charged too much for drinks; to
let in a bunch of students for a few quid each
who will be charged two pounds maximum per drink.
And everybody knows you never go into a club night
when doors open. So what the fuck would they lose
by letting us stay upstairs for an extra fifteen
minutes?
Three newer songs followed – the energetic
“It's My Tail And I'll Chase It If I Want
To” and then the singles “Silent/Transparent”
and “SuperImposer”, the first of which
got the biggest cheer upon commencing. Looking
around the room, everyone was reasonably still
– but I couldn't criticise as so was I.
I would argue that, with a band like Oceansize,
unless you know every song you're hearing note
for note, it's incredibly hard to move to. Just
as you've worked out one time signature or rhythm
and begin to move, it changes to something else!
Subsequently it's far easier to stand still, transfixed
in a loving trance and simply absorbing all that
is blasted at you. There is a lot going on in
an Oceansize song; delightful nuances and subtle
intricacies that make each live song more of an
ambient experience than a “let's jump around”
adventure.
The set closed with “Paper Champion”,
“Trail of Fire,” and the epic “Ornament
/ The Last Wrongs”. A beautiful finale to
a magical set, and a fantastic evenings entertainment.
Oceansize: 4.5/5
This Town Needs Guns: 4/5
Mojo Fury: 4.5/5
Review By Thom Curtis
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