Steve finds there’s life in Marrs on a Monday night
Malarkey from Birmingham are up first and it is strange that going to so many local punk and ska gigs in my home town of Brum that I have never caught Malarkey but glad I am here early enough to see them.
Malarkey
Malarkey clearly have influences spreading a number of decades and genres with a definite culture clash that works well. Malarkey’s vocalist has great deep Ragga infused vocals and a ridiculous amount of stage presence with an MC aspect to his delivery. The guitar playing shows the influence of 90’s Grunge bands, fitting in riffs alongside the chugging ska rhythms and melodic bass
They throw out a pretty amazing mix of songs taking in ska, reggae, punk, grunge, hip hop, and grime and move between them with ease aided by the versatility and tightness of their drummer. They are accomplished musicians and have some great catchy tunes and their set was excellent.
It’s a strange mix but it works, the distorted guitar and reggae and ska influence with the deep vocal delivery makes them quite unique. I will catch them again very soon.
https://en-gb.facebook.com/MalarkeyBand/
SaltWounds
Local band SaltWounds are a four-piece melodic punk band hailing from Worcestershire who formed in 2015 and have built a strong underground fan base which is evident tonight. They are clearly influenced by 1990’s/2000s pop punk such as Green Day, Good Charlotte, Jimmy Eat World and the like but have a more rocky feel.
They put everything into their show with the two guitars trading licks supported by thumping bass and drums moving between slow almost acoustic singalongs into full on heavy thrash at will. There was some great off beat drumming throughout which added something to their sound.
Stand out tracks for me were ‘Pressure’, ‘Poor Life Choices’ and ‘No Regrets’.
They released their debut self-titled EP at the end of 2016 and according to their front man who spent a large proportion of the gig in the middle of the dancefloor they are in the process of recording their debut album.
Jaya the Cat
Having missed Jaya The Cat headlining the Xmas Skankfest at Bristol in December 2017 due to being snowed in I was chuffed to see they were playing the City where I work in the type of venue that for me is where ska/punk should be heard.
Originally formed in Boston and now based in Amsterdam, it has been four years between last album, ‘The New International Sound Of Hedonism’, and new album ‘A Good Day For The Damned’ and there was plenty of excitement in the building with the room packed for the last date of Jaya The Cat’s run of UK shows.
They started with the hypnotic sound of ‘Wine Stained Futon’ the opening track from their current album ‘A Good Day For The Damned’. The packed crowd were up for it from the start and sang along to every song with people on each other’s shoulders and some early crowd surfers.
They played a good length set full of old favourites such as ‘Twist The Cap’, ‘Hello Hangover’, ‘Closing Time’, ‘Thank You Reggae’, ‘Final Solution’,’ Fake Carreras’, and ‘Date with a Needle’. These were interspersed with the new songs and it says something about how good ‘A Good Day For The Damned’ is that the new songs seemed to get the biggest reactions (save for maybe Fake Carreras).
Along with ‘Wine Stained Futon’, they played ‘A Rough Guide To The Future’, the amazing ‘Huddersfield Rain’, ‘Amsterdam’, ‘A Good Day for the Damned’ and the whole set blended together brilliantly.
The crowd danced throughout and periodically burst into the Na,Na,Nas of ‘Here Come The Drums’ and were frantic when the Rebel Sound Outro ended the show.
In the encore we are treated to ‘Sweet Eurotrash’ and the long awaited, ‘Here Come The Drums’ which started up a number of times before the finale.
I was amazed by the slickness of Jaya The Cat on stage – for a band that have a reputation for and songs about enjoying a heavy drink, they put on a hell of a show. This will no doubt be one of my gigs of the year and being in a smaller venue made it all the more special which I think the link below will confirm.
The Jaya The Cat merch lady was one of the friendliest people I’ve spoken to at a merch table, taking the time to have a brief chat with people about the stuff on sale.
It will be great to see them at rebellion later in the year.
I must say I have never been to the Marrs Bar before but this is definitely a hidden gem that has a great sound and layout and I will be going there a lot more often. You never know I might even join in on the jam night.
