Reviewed onWednesday July 6
Osaka Punch are, put simply, a band of AIM students fronted by a NIDA graduate. In other words, it’s music-as-sport fret-churning as led by a Mike Patton impersonator. Best served to those who equate musical skill to overall quality and those who prefer their music performed on guitars with odd-numbered strings.
Faring far better are Meniscus, who have spent the better part of the year hibernating. Now, the sleeping giant has well and truly been awoken: with little more than fluttering visual backdrops, the band delivers arresting and white-knuckle-intense soundscapes.
It’s a double-edged sword having Meniscus on – they’re always a welcome addition, but they’re incredibly difficult to follow. Case in point: Closure In Moscow. There’s a brief respite at the beginning of their set, as they borrow a couple of tunes from their 2009 debut First Temple and harken back to the closest thing they have to glory days. Naturally, however, it all goes to hell in a handbasket once they lean into songs from their disastrous 2014 LP Pink Lemonade. Somewhere in the middle, some bright spark decides to start calling out for ‘Free Bird’ like they’re the first to think of it. Much like that heckle, Closure In Moscow are inexplicably still around in 2016.
Eight-and-a-half years ago, The Fall Of Troy took the Soundwave stage in the scorching heat of the mid-afternoon, delivering one of the best sets of the day to a boisterous crowd. Now, here we are, with one of the smallest crowds Manning Bar has seen in some time. It’s partially to do with an overzealous ticket price and an oversized venue – this would work far better at Newtown Social Club, or even literally across the street at Hermann’s. It should be stressed, however, that it has nothing to do with the band itself. As the US rockers charge into ‘I Just Got This Symphony Goin’’, a spark is lit and they get lost in the moment.
Little things like this – moments that validate their return – are what drive this set. It’s the surprisingly positive response to the band playing new songs from OK. It’s being able to laugh with the musicians when they flub songs they haven’t properly rehearsed. It’s getting to sing the chorus of ‘F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.’ like it’s Soundwave 2008 all over again. Whether it’s zero or a zillion people, The Fall Of Troy are going to give their all.
