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Codetta are a band that can sound very different, depending on their mix. Tonight, with the kind of bass-heavy mix that the Middle East upstairs seems to favor, they are a big rock band. Very rhythm-heavy, and since the drummer is excellent, this really works for me. The vocals are tuneful but subdued; the disappointment is that I can't hear the guitar better, since it's a bundle of screechy noisy goodness when I can hear it. The rhythms are fascinating, with lots of abrupt changes and dynamics.
Aberdeen City have a powerhouse singer, whose voice cuts right through the bass-heavy mix. It's almost an operatic sound, but not offensively so. They're basically a pop band, with a lot of melody and verse-chorus structure, but a somewhat beefier overall sound. The guitarists both have dizzying arrays of pedals, and while a lot of the effects they use are subtle fine-tuning of their sounds, the result is a wide range of tones and timbres, which provides variety to offset the straightforward songwriting.
Baby Boy H's singer is mixed much lower than the last time I saw them. I like them better this way; when she's not completely dominating the mix, she provides a lot of power and menace and urgency, and she's a really dynamic stage presence. I also like what she does with reverb and delay effects on her voice, and I think more singers should take control of their own reverb and use pedals. The rest of the band is now more audible. The drums and the (again, very loud) bass are solid and interesting. There are also two guitarists and a keyboard player, and there's a lot going on at any one time. At its worst, this results in a sort of muddy wash of sound, as the guitars and keyboards blend together and the bass swallows the vocal. At its best, it gives a very layered and nuanced sound, with different textures balancing and complementing each other.
IIJ apparently stands for "Is It Jazz?" I would say no, it's not. It's more simple, funk-inflected rock, with a delightful wack-job frontman. The first song sounds very Wall of Voodoo, and in the next few they remind me of early Count Zero. For one that seems to be called "Monkey Orangutang" they have someone dressed in a gorilla suit dancing through the audience handing out bananas, and you've got to respect that. The instrumental lines are pretty simple; the guitar mostly just plays rhythm, and the keyboard is mixed too low to compensate. But the focus is on the frontman, who's both a fine singer and a tremendously entertaining stage presence. We stay for about half a dozen songs, and I would hear them out, but Tom didn't get his nap today, so we head home.
