The title of Voka Gentle’s latest album Domestic Bliss might imply contentment in confinement, but the London trio – twins Imogen and Ellie Mason, plus Imogen’s husband William J. Stokes – make it their mission to burst out of any container you care to put them in. The sisters face each other across a mound of electronic gadgetry Holy Fuck style, in cahoots with inventive guest drummer Ollie Middleton, while Stokes contributes guitar and vocals.
Freewheeling technicolour pop is the result – all buzzing synths, gang chants and surprise left turns. The harder-edged Creon I takes the punchy distorted stomp of Battles’ Atlas and runs off in a different direction. And thanks to an uncooperative guitar, TV Bra – a robo-pop shopping-channel ad for wearable tech – is a late setlist substitute adding gloss to an already strong team performance.
That support slots like this can be beneficial in helping to raise profile is borne out by GANS, whose dates with fellow Black Country outfit Big Special – in addition to a debut LP, Good For The Soul, released on Pete Doherty’s label Strap Originals – have evidently given them a platform for a headline tour of their own. Formerly a duo, drummer Euan Woodman and Tom Rhodes have now been joined by a third permanent member, Tommy Lawther, on saxophone and flute. “Mr Miles Davis!” exclaims Rhodes, announcing another sax solo.
First, the positives. GANS throw everything into their performance, to a largely rabid response; Woodman expertly whips up a moshpit occupied by energetic youngsters, while us older onlookers edge to the back and sides. They don’t take themselves too seriously, and react with cheery equanimity to botched beginnings. (Woodman audibly chastises himself for starting a new song at the wrong tempo; Rhodes aborts another with the declaration “That was live music!”) And a flautist prompting an excitable entanglement of flailing limbs is undeniably entertaining.
Otherwise, though, GANS come off as boringly generic. Their look – 80s tache, Aussie rules mullet, sportswear (swiftly shed) – is a familiar one to say the least, and it feels like they’ve given more thought to merch design than music. Their one-dimensional lad-punk songs do precious little to distinguish themselves from the sort of thing that Soft Play were doing over a decade ago, as Slaves, and their lyrics supposedly reflect grim societal realities but remain mired in tired cliches (closer The King’s Head in particular).
If there’s a glimmer of hope for the future (which includes a forthcoming second album), it’s late-set highlight Oh George, which draws on techno thump as well as punk attitude. Too little, too late to prompt a more generous re-evaluation, though – likewise the sight of students liberating gig posters from their frames as souvenirs on the way out.
GANS / Voka Gentle, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Wed 6 May
words and photos BEN WOOLHEAD
