Monster Logic / Annik / The Bedroom Text

The Anvil, Bournemouth

Tonight there is a pre-Christmas gathering of three local Indie bands, who have all got together with local promoters Sucker to put on a gig to raise funds for two deserving local charities; Dorset Mind and Alzheimerís Research UK. With this great gesture in mind, no-one can quibble with the £8 otd price for entry; as they not only get three great local bands, but they are helping two charities so everyone wins.

The first band on tonight are The Bedroom Text; a four-piece band who start off the evening in fine style with opening number, their recent single “Gina”. Frontman Benji does a good job on vocals and rhythm guitar while the lead is more than taken care of by Jacob Rowe. Jacob has his effect pedals arranged on two skateboard decks at his feet and uses his royal blue fender left-handed Stratocaster to create some great sounds which really make their songs stand out. At times during their set he takes off into a complete world of his own, totally owning his substantial guitar riffage. The rhythms are efficiently taken care of with solid work by Henry Whalley on Drums and Craigo Ayre on Bass. This quartet has plenty to give and deliver with tunes including a new single called “No Name” which is due out in January. They leave after a 30 minute set and are given a loud positive reception from the crowd.

The Bedroom Text 1–2–3

Next up are a new band who only played their debut gig at the Buffalo in Bournemouth in July of this year. They are an adventurous 5-piece who feature three electric guitars in their armoury and are called Annik. They have brought a few coach loads of fans with them and as they take to the stage there is barely enough space to squeeze the band through the crowd to get them onto the stage. They are all full of infectious enthusiasm and kick off with their opening number “Cigarette”, which gives you an initial glimpse of their considerable sound. Sound engineer Steve from “RMV Sounds” has clearly done his work in the soundcheck as the band and the guitar sound effects are top-notch. The great thing about this band is no one sound is the same, they cull from a number of different genres. The second song “Remember Me” starts off with a funky bassline before the infectious melodies get the crowd literally bouncing around. I was then really shocked to hear a Slowdive cover “When The Sun Hits”; as a big fan of theirs since the late 80’s I genuinely thought no one could recreate their beautifully atmospheric sound, but these guys have certainly done their homework and nail the guitar parts; sadly the vocals are not a patch on Rachel Goswell’s, but you can’t expect it all. Annik’s final song started off with some hectic machine gun drumming, before a whole different mix of guitar patterns grace the audience’s ears and the song just builds and builds. The band leave the stage to one of the best audience reactions I have seen for a local band in a long while. That said at this early stage they are by no means the finished article and I’m sure as they gain more experience, we could be seeing some great things from them.

Annik 1–2–3–4–5

Headliners Monster Logic waste no time in preparing the stage for their entrance, they clearly want to continue the momentum that Annik created. They start strong with one of their more well-known songs from their debut EP. The four-piece from Bournemouth have steadily shown themselves to be an emerging band with plenty of potential. The focal point of the band is frontman Alex who with his liberally applied eye make-up; crocheted/lace top (possibly borrowed from his Aunty or found in a Boscombe charity shop) excitedly injects energy, personality and a unique style of vocals. The band addionally feature Nat Harrup on Bass, Josh Ward on guitar and drummer Charlie Ward (who looks like he could possibly be the son of Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones) who all together create a unique sound infused with various subtle influences. The band positively feed off the audience’s enthusiastic reaction, delivering plenty of great tunes including a look at the band’s continuing developing sound in the form of new tunes “Kill The Boi” and “True Fright”. A reworked version of The Pixies tune “Where Is My Mind” gets the whole place singing along and the crowd’s voices continue singing with the band on their tune “Selfish”. Alex gets a little emotional and says that this is one of the best gigs that the band has played and it looks very much like the rest of the band agree, showing that all of that time they have spent rehearsing was indeed well worth the effort. The band leave the stage triumphant and are now looking forward to their last gig of the year, which will be at Chaplin’s in Boscombe on 27th December with Cherry Lotus.

Monster Logic 1–2–3–4–5–6–7

Set Lists
Monster Logic
Talk You Down
The Clearing
Deer
Kill the Boi
Endorse
Whole
Where is My Mind (The Pixies)
Selfish
4 in 7 Out
True Fright
Sober
The Farm

Annik
Cigarette
Remember Me
Sad Eyes
When The Sun Hits (Slowdive)
Smirk
Calm Before the Storm
Ramona

The Bedroom Text
Gina
Beer Bottles
Wax
Rough
Distractor
No Name
Gazebo

Video