The Novatines/Mundane Days
October 25, 2018Sixty Million Postcards, Bournemouth
What a night, considering it was cold, dingy and autumnal stepping into 60 almost all tables were filled with bustling chat and energetic vibes. When newcomers Mundane Days stepped on stage the tables were vacated making it clear that the room had come to see them. Mundane Days play angsty slacker rock with the unusual approach of being a guitar/vocals and drums/vocals duo; personally, I feel this type of music needs a steady driving bassline to hold it together, maybe a third member will be added in the future. I would assume that the lively dancing crowd were all friends sharing in-jokes and comments with the band between songs but regardless of their association with the band, the dancefloor was full moving to the nostalgic grunge vibes.
Grunge is an interesting genre, too polished and youíre a sell-out, too haphazard and you’re just noise. With a comical rebellious attitude, derivative songwriting and lyrics the boys painted a caricature of grunge. Whilst Mundane Days performance stepped slightly too far from slacker rock to overtly sloppy in places every band starts somewhere bashing away in someone’s garage shaping their craft. Legendary drummer of Nirvana Dave Grohl described Nirvana as “sucking” at first with them regularly practicing more until they “sucked a bit less” until eventually, they started writing songs they were happy with defining grunge as a genre, the very style Mundane Days play. Mundane Days played an unnamed new song as their penultimate song; within 4 bars it was clear this song was a new beast, a more organized chaos, well-chiselled lead riff and bouncing vocal. With this song showing their songwriting potential maybe weíll be queuing in our plaid shirts for their next gig.
Once in a while, the universe drops a band into a starter tour venue that has it all in place; the look, sound, style, songwriting and the showmanship and you’re stood thinking this band is ready for the rock charts and the best stadiums throughout the world. In this case, the band was Novatines, the music fan was headbanging and not standing and the venue was 60 Million Postcards. With flowing locks of hair, muscles bursting through their shirts like The Incredible Hulk and more rock poses than a Snapchat teenager the room was divided with females in the audience that secretly lusted for the Novatines lads and the males in the room who wanted to be them. Speaking with Novatines afterwards I complained that although they had the charisma to encourage audience participation without the audience having heard the songs before this left the boys a step below their potential (I canít wait for the album). With the chance practice their poses and singing voices with their hairbrushes in the shower blaring Novatines on their stereo I guarantee the crowds in future will be singing every word.
Kindly the band agreed with this comment telling me how 3 months of hard work went into an album that apparently does not disappoint! Novatines are a group that oozes riffs but understand the need to shape a set with highs and lows with them showing fingerpicking guitar skills and ballad songwriting to stop the crowd causing themselves headbanging induced whiplash. Think big riffs, big beats, and driving basslines, Novatines are the band every Download Festival attendee will be singing along to in the near future. The boys promise me 2019 will be the year of single drops before the album drops at the end of the year. Novatines, summer 2020 festival season will be yours!
Link
https://www.facebook.com/thenovatones
Words by James Wadsworth