'Monade has no fizz
Monade, Komedia, Brighton 29 Feb 08
Went to see Monade. From Bordeaux, they include Laeticia Sadier, singer and lyricist for the mighty Stereolab. The name is presumably a French play on Le Monade = Lemonade...but there was sadly no fizz.
I tried to say hello to Laeticia once, at a gig about 10 years ago. She looked at me like I was a piece of shit on her shoe, and jogged on. Tonight she still had the same air of scary haughtiness - so much so that no-one dared approach the stage, creating a 'sea', as she put it, between them and us.
There wasn't much of us. Maybe 60 people, one of those crowds with a 1:3 head to haircut ratio. And by the end of the night only 4 people had dared cross the sea to approach the Marquise de Sadier, and those at the back had decided to sit down, lean against the wall, and generally talk amongst themselves. Unfortunately Tottenham was in bed with a snapped leg, and the Hymers were tucked up with the flu, so it left Hairy and me to, well, stand quietly, ever aware of our aching backs.
Trouble was the lack of excitement. Monade do intellectual pop, a brain workout with little to no soul, passion, drive...oomph, for god's sake. It's as if Sadier told the other 3 'let's aim for Stereolab-lite, chuck in some difficult words, and see if anyone notices that I play my guitar upside down (she does), and the bassist plays a de-tuned guitar (she does), and the keyboardist mimics a waxwork (he does), and the drummer pretends he plays for Tortoise'. The drummer David Loquier was the best thing no doubt, but could never get into a groove as 'jazz' or 'reggae' style changes in time signature and other pseudomuso moments kept disrupting the flow.
When they stopped trying so hard they did better - songs 'about a lunatic asylum' and 'beauty' showed some potential to be more than decaff post-rock. Sure, people clapped and one guy announced he had travelled 500 miles to see them, but I'm afraid they left me rather cold.
In support were a band with the silliest name around, 'It hugs back', who were good fun in a shoegazing, fringe shaking, pedal stomping, my bloody valentine fashion. They're from Kent but don't let that put you off checking them out.
Went to see Monade. From Bordeaux, they include Laeticia Sadier, singer and lyricist for the mighty Stereolab. The name is presumably a French play on Le Monade = Lemonade...but there was sadly no fizz.
I tried to say hello to Laeticia once, at a gig about 10 years ago. She looked at me like I was a piece of shit on her shoe, and jogged on. Tonight she still had the same air of scary haughtiness - so much so that no-one dared approach the stage, creating a 'sea', as she put it, between them and us.
There wasn't much of us. Maybe 60 people, one of those crowds with a 1:3 head to haircut ratio. And by the end of the night only 4 people had dared cross the sea to approach the Marquise de Sadier, and those at the back had decided to sit down, lean against the wall, and generally talk amongst themselves. Unfortunately Tottenham was in bed with a snapped leg, and the Hymers were tucked up with the flu, so it left Hairy and me to, well, stand quietly, ever aware of our aching backs.
Trouble was the lack of excitement. Monade do intellectual pop, a brain workout with little to no soul, passion, drive...oomph, for god's sake. It's as if Sadier told the other 3 'let's aim for Stereolab-lite, chuck in some difficult words, and see if anyone notices that I play my guitar upside down (she does), and the bassist plays a de-tuned guitar (she does), and the keyboardist mimics a waxwork (he does), and the drummer pretends he plays for Tortoise'. The drummer David Loquier was the best thing no doubt, but could never get into a groove as 'jazz' or 'reggae' style changes in time signature and other pseudomuso moments kept disrupting the flow.
When they stopped trying so hard they did better - songs 'about a lunatic asylum' and 'beauty' showed some potential to be more than decaff post-rock. Sure, people clapped and one guy announced he had travelled 500 miles to see them, but I'm afraid they left me rather cold.
In support were a band with the silliest name around, 'It hugs back', who were good fun in a shoegazing, fringe shaking, pedal stomping, my bloody valentine fashion. They're from Kent but don't let that put you off checking them out.
