Live Review

The Warlocks – The Bodega Social, Nottingham

• 27th Jul 2009

The Warlocks are here, the Warlocks are here, the Warlocks are here! Man I’ve been waiting for this, as you’ve probably gathered. Whilst being at one with the Bodega for its intimate, somewhat communal gigs, I’d have loved to hear tonight’s stupor – inducing monodrone shaking those Rock City walls heck, even the Rescue Rooms might’ve opened up the sonic spectrum a little. But hey, I’m beginning to bitch and we don’t want that, right? Tonight (in a nutshell) was kickass!

The Warlocks are an odd bunch given that over the last decade they’ve taken on around 20 different forms, spewing out a noticeably skewed sound with each release and change of personnel or medication. One thing’s consistent however and that’s their sublime comedown sound that perhaps seldom allows optimism to penetrate a dimly projected demeanour. And it’s evident tonight that a solid set of tunes from a stolid set of goons is in order.

With a stage presence that (almost) oozes cool disregard that’s reminiscent of a more energetic Sonic Youth or ethereal Mazzy Star, a seemingly lax display is what myself and around 40 others witness, give or take the odd rapt audience- bound comment. I feel like I’ve just partook in something significant, I just can’t fine-tune my reasoning for it. The hour long unrelenting haze of a set is over before I can truly determine my relish; it perhaps all feels a little too unreal. That is until kicking out time when I approach the band for an interview. Owing to prior commitments they twice respectfully decline and I settle for a signed poster, dark in design and of course utterly appropriate.

Check out their latest LP ‘The Mirror Explodes’, in particularly ‘Midnight Sun’ (for some of that aforementioned optimism) or ‘You Make Me wait’ (for a taste of the opposite), though should you be tempted to bite down hard, for me you have to go back to 2005s ‘Surgery’ LP for their most accessible doorway into their thing. The Warlocks were here and they happened alright, they just left less of an impact than I’d imagined them to.