Take me away. Burn all the tragic hard to process tragedies that roll through my media and social platforms. Just for a while. These were my selfish thoughts at Fluffer Records first ever pit party, an event detailed with cinema black beginnings before the secret locale erupted with the blood red menace of the lighting man’s chaotic imagination.
Dressmaker’s shamanic drone rock provided the perfect initiation into a room one hundred strong. The quartet pounded through a set that had the crowd pumped with anticipation not to mention sweat. Dressmaker, I’ve only just discovered you; oh the shame.
Eighteen Nightmares at The Lux pummelled through song after song in a way which thankfully kept the same mood, but via a different sound; a testament to the uniform of the bill. Big thanks to Al Brown (Fluffer Records MD). The Nightmares cut through the smoke machines guff and strobe assault with jagged and twisted hard rock. Slight technical issues with the bass guitar couldn’t halt their eventual success. A must see.
Dealing in the kind of blues tinged alt rock that Pearl Jam tribute bands could only dream of, Baby in Vain meticulously schooled the audience in the sublime art of balancing feeling with aggression. The drumming was some of the best/solid of the night, but guitar sound and beats aside, it’s lead singer, Lola’s voice which captivates. Her throat trembles with the weight of some undisclosed betrayal. Each note infested with pain. Not the pretend to be angry type you often get – no – her vocal revealed the emotive guttural blowout fashioned in the fires of true experience. Watch. Them. Rise.
God Damn. I mean, with Ash on drums there really is no other moniker that fits. Just watch the video below to realise why writing about them so soon after the event is rather pointless. Thom Egerton abandons his guitar and runs into the crowd with a mic; Ash threatens to rip through skins Bruce Lee style; the crowd is incited to drawing the Fluffer Pit Party doll high above their heads to grant Keira Cullinane the photograph of the evening and yes, every pan and wide angle of the vids I shot was directed by music that would do Grohl and Homme proud. Showmanship and great playing aside, I was shocked to find out that Thom wasn’t that happy with his guitar sound. What do the talented know about their music, eh? If that sound wasn’t great then we should all fear for the times when Thom believes he’s ‘nailed it’, because as far as the gathering was concerned, God Damn were a force of nature.
Have a watch of four bands play in the round and do ‘like’ Fluffer Records on Facebook. A brief Escape from dark current affairs certainly appears to be the label’s immaculate gift to all.
