Friday night finds me in Camden at
The Barfly - a venue a don't visit often as it tends to mainly book lightweight indie type outfits instead of rock bands these days. However, the Friday night
Jubilee Club at this venue does tend to book more rock/punk/rock 'n' roll bands - and they've got a good 'un tonight!
Eureka Machines are one of the best live acts I've
ever seen. Some rock/metal bands build a reputation on their live shows, but either they aren't very good musicians, or their actual
music isn't very good and their energetic/crazed performance can be effective at disguising this. However, this is most definitely
not the case with Eureka Machines.
These Northern lads are top class musicians, and have written a wide variety of very catchy pop/rock songs with hooks big enough to land a Blue Whale. The riffs are big and heavy but they aren't a metal band. The tunes get stuck in your head, and the image, choreography and suits are sharp but they aren't a pop group either.
What they
are is (in my opinion) the best live band in the UK. Impossible to categorise or pigeonhole - which is probably why the music press have refused to acknowledge them as they don't know which box to put them in. The music is both heavy and bouncy, poppy but with a lot of depth. The band are
very well drilled and rehearsed, but there is still spontaneity in their performance.
As well as the music being very well written and performed, the band are absolutely full of life and energy. Heavy and as riffy as the Wildhearts, or even Slayer in some moments, but with the punky poppy feel of Therapy? at their best, along with melodies like The Beatles. As well as their technical skill, they are also highly entertaining! Frontman Chris Catalyst has a very funny line in stage banter and is obviously really enjoying himself tonight.
Being from Leeds this band aren't seen very often in 'that London', but things seem to be picking up and this is the third time they have played in 'the smoke' this year. After relentlessly playing the toilet circuit for years and managing to release two very good albums and still be ignored by the mainstream media and the rock press they were on the point of giving up. Then they decided to take one last chance and try launching a
PledgeMusic campaign. Much to their surprise it succeeded beyond their wildest dreams and led to the release of their third and best (so far) album 'Remain In Hope'. The band seem to have been on a bit of a roll since then, with a string of sold out shows and good reviews (even in
The Sun) and another Pledge album is in the pipeline. However well crafted the band's albums may be - it's as a live act they
really shine.Eureka Machines always create a
great atmosphere at their shows - loads of people singing along to their catchy songs full of hooks that get jammed in your head, witty banter from the band's frontman, and a very energetic performance from the band while still playing their at times quite complicated music very well indeed.
One feature of the band's Pledge campaign to fund the last album was a free EP of 1980's cover songs for everybody who pledged for the album in advance - one of the four songs on the just released EP was played tonight - The Bangles 'Walk Like An Egyptian'. It was great fun! So was the whole show - don't miss the brilliant
Eureka Machines next time they come to town...
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