I last saw Squid seventeen months ago in Birmingham after having reviewed their sophomore album `O Monolith` and came away from the show with more questions than answers and for me that kind of sums Squid up on record and live. They are experimental almost prog like, jazz tinged, avant-garde and at times off kilter, the kind of band that really intrigues me. I tried to think as to how many other bands have had drummers as their singer and produced The Band with Levon Helm, Death from Above 1979, The Eagles and Genesis after Gabrial departed, so yes even that`s a bit unique.
Anyway as to tonight, the quintet arrive in Brum on the latter part of the UK slice of their Cowards` World Tour following the release of their brilliantly compelling and captivating album `Cowards` last month with said drummer and singer Ollie Judge attired in a Godflesh t shirt, a nice touch that tipped it`s hat to another experimental band who hail from my hometown of Birmingham.
There`s no fuss as the band head on stage as a shimmering synth like sound leads us into `Crispy Skin` from the latest release which has a kind of questioning lyrical ambience and veers off in different directions at times, welcome back Squid. A further couple of cuts from the latest release follow with the meandering but enticing `Building 650` and the awkward but compelling `Showtime!` It`s back in time to the band`s debut release `Bright Green Field` for the in your face `G.S.K.` to what for me was the highlight of the evening and `Swing (In A Dream)`, a song I really love which was every bit as enthralling and compelling shared live as it is on record.
The homestretch included tracks like the oddball and edgy `Cro-Magnon Man`, and the improvised quite avant-garde jazzy `Undergrowth` before leaving us with the trippy journey that is `The Blades`.
The chant of “One More Song” rings out from this passionate crowd and the band duly return for an encore with the robust quite angular `Narrator` before leaving us with `Well Met (Fingers Through the Fence` an offbeat quite unorthodox but enthralling ambling trip with brass and synth key colours added as it evolves.
As with the last time I saw Squid, I again kept trying to overthink and intellectualise the group because they didn`t quite fit into a norm and allow themselves to become pigeonholed in a specific genre. What are they? krautrock, art rock, post punk, punk funk, experimental jazz who knows or who even cares. They are an eclectic mix of many genres all blended into their own unique mix and style. A band that seems to me, who create a sound they enjoy and if others also like it, fine. An outfit who push the boundaries and seem to have inherited the torch from other idiosyncratic experimental artists who have gone before such as Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, The Residents, Can, Syd Barrett and Soft Machine.
As I said last time I saw them, there`s a quote associated with Captain Beefheart where somebody said `I have never experienced such a strong desire to keep listening and stop listening at the same time` and for me that could also be applied to Squid.
I look forward to the next time when we meet again.
