Another Sunnyvale gig

Tonight I saw Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element for not only the third time this term but my third successive gig. I might not have bothered, given that I had no one to go with, but I wanted to pick up their new remix album and they'd announced that it would be their last gig before a break to work on new material.

The email advertised a start time of 8pm, but in fact when I got the Wheatsheaf at half-past that was the time on the posters, and in fact it was almost another half-hour before we could get in. I always like to catch the support bands, but I'm not surprised so many people choose to arrive late.

Von Braun 6/10
As it is, I'm there in time to see supposedly hotly-tipped new local band Von Braun. To be honest, I didn't see what the fuss was about - they were perfectly adequate, in a Franz Ferdinand kind of way, and get better through the set, but nothing struck me as special. Even though they were the most convential band line up of the night, my attention was still rather focused on the screening of Metropolis in the background.

Space Heroes of the People 8/10
The second band are a rather unusual threesome - keyboardist, electric double bass and drums. I very much enjoyed a rather energetic set, including a performance of their Sunnyvale remix 'I Love You Every Time You Struggle Heroically Against Imperialist Oppression' and end up buying their CD too. I have to say it's not quite as good on CD as live, but a nice momento.

Rothko 5/10
The most established band of the night, I hadn't heard of Rothko before despite a string of albums to their name. It's more instrumental post-rock, with the frontman noodling away at some keyboard like device. To be honest, I didn't find either the music or stage presence that interesting - though I notice the background movie had now switched from Metropolis to Godzilla.

Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element 7/10
The problem with seeing Sunnyvale live on a regular basis is that - the odd technical hitch aside - they're remarkably consistent because most of it's pre-recorded anyway. Maybe it's only worth turning up for the announcements, which are punctuated by slabs of noise like 'Godzilla vs Kathleen Hanna' (appropriate given the video in the background). Still, I suppose the good side of consistency is that you're rarely disappointed, but to be honest I would welcome some new material. I guess I have the remixes to keep me amused in the meantime...

UPDATE: Though they had said it'd be their last gig for a while, they've just announced a support slot to The Kills at the Carling Academy 15/06/08.