London Weekend

Oh boy what a great time we had in London! We ate a bunch of yummy food, particularly the Avocado/Poached Egg/Hollandaise sandwich at Flat White and the peanut butter pairfait at Pizza East were to die for, and we had the best coffee as always at Present. We also went to the beautiful John Stezaker exhibition at the Whitechapel gallery. But most importantly we saw great friends and bands and bought loads of records which we can't wait to spin on our next night.

On Thursday we met up with some friends for a few pints at the Old Blue Last before venturing down to CAMP Basement to see Wetdog and Cloud Nothings. Sadly Wetdog cancelled but the Cloud Nothings from Ohio more than made up for it. Not really knowing what to expect of them, as we'd only heard a few song before hand and barely remembering them, we took a serious punch to the gut by a simply stunning live performance. Wow, fucking wow. The band, and particularly the drummer who mangled the drum kit to bits, thrashed and twisted noise into pop songs like it was the last rock'n'roll concert on earth. Really impressive and fun and we can't recommend enough that you go see them if you can.

Video: Cloud Nothings - All The Time | Cloud Nothings - Turning On | Cloud Nothings - Can't Stay Awke

Photo by Sumire

Friday was the So Tough! So Cute! night at the Drop and be honest, we're blushing when thinking of the reception we got. Hundreds of people dancing, jumping and making out in the corners and just having the best fun ever. Lots of Swedish friends turned up from Popfest, the Dance Magic Dance girls and Sex Beet and Jerry Tropicano were there and were as lovely punk as ever. Sumire from Twee Grrrls Club in Tokyo turned up with presents and was a super cool surprise and so many more people just spinning around and coming up with some great requests for songs. The decks almost toppled over a few times as the wee basement tumbled beneath all dancing feet. Amazing.

Saturday, after some shopping and recharging (Cheese strings!) and visiting Sex Beet doing a DJ-set at Top Shop where the staff didn't seem to appreciate their selection of pop tunes, we ended up back in Stoke Newington to witness the release of the long awaited Pheromoans LP. After finding some seriously great and sold out records and spending a fortune at the mini distro set up in a dark corner the best band in the world took the stage. Yes, we're talking about La La Vasquez of course. Sporting So Tough! So Cute! badges for the night the band, with a seriously pissed off looking Freya, took the stage and played an, at times pretty dance inducing, set as they strolled along post-punk baselines and shambolic guitar pop hooks and drums that recalled Shop Assistants and Beat Happening. Very lovely.

Video: La La Vasquez - Goddess | La La Vasquez - Buoy | La La Vasquez - Not Right | La La Vasquez - Horror | La La Vasquez - Thinking Is Easy

La La Vasquez setlist

Then came Pheromoans and blew our minds. The Fall comparisons are usually silly but the Pheromoans with their jagged and angular take on Dragnet/Live At The Witch Trials era Fall-sound and vocalist Russells deadpan delivery together with repetitive sound, like a factory constructing Warholian cans of racket by the millions, brought forth by the workers/band the band makes it hard not to. A bloody amazing gig. Short, loud, fun and just so fucking great sounding. Apart from the sweet cover of Shark Fucks by the Tronics we got to hear all the songs we wanted and the album It Still Rankles out on Convulsive has been glued to our record player since we got back to Sweden.

Video: Pheromoans - Revamper | Pheromoans - Slime Days | Pheromoans - Soft Targets

Pheromoans setlist

After the gigs we set course to the Victory and squeezed by all hipster punks to see Let's Wrestle take the stage, well floor actually. They were so much better than last time when we saw them perform at Rough Trade East. Ridiculously tight and loud the trio ripped through their set and brought to mind Dinosaur Jr before J Mascis started doing two hour minute solos. We might actually have take a second look at the album as we don't remember them having these great songs. A perfect short set that ended with a mosh pit and shredded guitar strings.

Sunday brought the last day of the London Popfest where we had hoped to be knocked out by the Notes who had a really good record out last year (On double 10" LP! How great is that!) but either somebody forgot to plug them in or the ringing in our ears from the previous nights of rawkin' took over because the band, which barely moved to and were to modestto  ask for the crowds attention sadly just disappeared on the Lexington stage. A shame as the Notes where the band we'd looked forward seeing the most. Youngfuck were a pleasant surprise with their St Etienne sounding pop but again, they also just disappeared and only got our attention when the beats got going and grabbed us by the private parts, very politely we must add, and asked us to dance. After that the hunger and hangover took over and we went for pizza wondering if a crowd standing in your face in a tiny smelly basement would have made the Notes and Youngfuck being a bit more fun and exciting on stage.

All in all a fantastic weekend and we hope to see you at the next So Tough! So Cute! in Stoke Newington on 25th March