Guillemots - Plus One Magazine

Guillemots

Royworld

Nottingham Rock City

03/06/08

It's always a little worrying when you arrive for a gig to find only about 10 people queueing to get into the venue, even though doors are due to open in 10 minutes time; as was the case with tonight's gig at Rock City. You see, Guillemots, as good as they are, have never had that elusive Number 1 single (and haven't charted a top 10 single to date, bar their number 9 album, Red released in March this year) but have instead gained a fairly decent 'word of mouth' following instead, along with a seminal amount of radio play. This in turn means that they're too big to play somewhere like the Basement, Rescue Rooms or The Social, yet not big enough (yet) to sell out Rock City or larger venue. This will happen in time i'm sure, but for now, we get a more personal, intimate gig at a just over half full Rock City.

To boost things tonight though, we have the excellent Royworld on supporting act duties who, having just released their debut album this past week, are on form tonight blasting their way through a solid 45 minute set. Although we pretty much just get a set full of most of the tracks from their debut album, including 'Dust' and 'Man In The Machine', Royworld are headlining material and are in it for the long-term rather than the one-trick wonders out there nowadays. You'd be forgiven for thinking though that performing the above to widely radio-played “hits” early in their set is cause for going to the bar instead of listening to what else they have to offer, but what they DO have to offer are some amazingly emotional well-produced songs, including such potential hits as 'Science' and 'Brakes'. Wonderously, Royworld go down a storm with the audience this evening, and appearing in respect to garner a good chunk of many more potential fans. It wont be, of course, until that hit-or-miss second album comes out in the near future that they get the opportunity to make it or break it, but in the mean time, their debut album - Man In The Machine- I would say is well worth checking out.

By the time Guillemots came to the fore, the audience were in a very highly talkative mood unfortunately, which meant that during a lot of the more quieter songs, there was way too much talking. This is a shame as Fyfe Dangerfield produces some very beautiful songs. I must admit though to not having listened (as yet) to their first album, but during songs that I recognised from their latest album, Red, it was at an almost annoying level for so many people to be inconsiderate to the artists on stage; when you go to see an artist perform, you go to see and hear them live, not talk amongst yourselves during the quiet periods. Rant over.

With his old antique-looking chair, a multitude of synths and and guitars onstage, even though there are only 4 members in Guillemots (not including their onstage mascots mind you), you'd be forgiven for thinking their only half a band. This isnt the case though, what with Fyfe flitting between his keyboard station and guitars (and even at one point on drums), and Aristazabal Hawkes moving between Double Bass, Percussion and even lead singing at one point; everyone chips in. It suddently dawns on me at this point that Guillemots are no set musical-standard package, so are not really Indie enough to be Indie, not rocking enough to be Rock, and not electronic enough to come under a Dance label. Guillemots in their songs are instead, as their name suggests, a flock of differing contrasting styles each with their own personality. Much like The Flaming Lips or Super Furry Animals, their music stomps through differing styles, from soaring vocal tracks over acoustic tones, through anthem-esque blasts of chart-topping sing-a-long tunes, to the other end of the musica genres with eye-brow raising musical landscapes; there's literally something for everyone, as can be seen in the audience tonight, with every generation catered for. From the teen who probably just heard "Get Over It" in the charts, all the way to the 50-something industry bod going to see his or her latest musical taste of the month.

Guillemots also contrast the styles of their own songs, with much of them being twisted and changed slightly over the original CD versions - as is highlighted by the rocked-up version of "Get Over It" tonight, with Fyfe donning a pair of Liam Gallagher-esque shades and guitar, with more emphasis on the guitar; it was certainly different enough from the album version though to raise a few more eyebrows yet garner a stupendous applause from all there once they realised what song it was.

And that's the charm that appealed to me also this evening. I didn't know what to expect from Guillemots but I left Rock City with a smile on my face knowing i'd just seen a smart band who are very much capable of appealing to everyone. I don't think they'll ever sell out gigs unless they release a stonkng "must have" album in the near future and manage to pull a rabbit out of their hat. But, I definitely do believe that they will go down as one of those all-time cult bands where everyone owns at least one of their CDs in their collection.