65 Days of Static at Koko, Camden, UK

Michael Byrne reports on 65 Days of Static live at Koko in Camden, UK with openers Rolo Tomasi, The Mirimar Disaster, Josh T. Pearson and Lethal Bizzle

As I’ve mentioned before in previous articles, the days of tribal musical styles are over. People now are listening to anything and everything despite the way it’s presented or marketed. Case in point; Sunday night at the garishly over the top venue, Koko in Camden where post rockers 65daysofstatic where supported by four acts ranging from sludgy instrumental metal to poor, “cookie-cutter” grime.

For somewhat of an underground band, 65dos had successfully managed to pack out the entire venue (no small task with its three tier theatre layout), the place heaving at the seams by the time the third act, Josh T. Pearson, emerged.

On stage alone, Pearson managed to mix a vocal talent similar to Jeff Buckley with the ghostly folk sound akin to what Jay Munly has mastered, all the while looking like a pan handling Hillbilly from the frontiers. An artist surely to look out for, despite his material being weakened on this particular evening by some dodgy sound engineering.On the flipside however grime artist Lethal Bizzle flopped onstage with energy and bravado, only to be embarrassed by his heavily repetitive uninspiring beats and Mcing and while the trust fund babies at the front seemed to enjoy their dicing with an otherwise exotic sound, those already into dirty beats (be it grime, drum n bass dubstep and so on), were left with a more insipid impression.

Finally then, after four acts, 65dos emerged, hitting the ground running with ‘A Failsafe’, their usual intensity flowing through their instruments, be it with their stunning guitar work or the expert drumming. All the while the stage lights beamed out frantically at the audience, looking like a UFO making neon signals before take off.

As well as being tight musically, 65dos gave some of the most powerful visual feeds I’ve seen from a live set. While most, as with the majority of lateral visual images, were merely aesthetically fitting with the music, at times a real poignancy was produced not least when the band showed clips from a little known British film, ‘Threads’ (about a nuclear bomb hitting the city of Sheffield, ironically where the band hails from) during the track ‘When We Were Younger and Better’. Or when they highlighted how much carbon emission they had produced while on tour and what the effect of those emissions were. While a cynical approach could argue that even these images where nothing more than aesthetics if not borderline band wagon hopping (with regards to the climate awareness) when matched to the timing and tempo of the band they appeared to be so much more, clip after clip changing to the beat of the drums making for maximum emotive effect from their music.

It’s clear that 65dos continue to progress both musically and technically with each passing gig and despite attempts to remain ever humble, deserve praise ad nauseum for their efforts. And while no doubt their most recent album has brought them considerably more acclaim in both the U.K and U.S math rock scene, it is a shame that their hallmark IDM element has been subdued to allow a more classical post rock sound to flourish. Clearly 65dos are a band not to be missed despite my anally retentive nit picking as to their waning IDM quantity. And to keep an eye out for their next show near you would be good advice indeed.

Photographs by Max Brill

http://www.65daysofstatic.com/wordpress/

Michael Byrne