The Telescopes, November 2006

THE TELESCOPES – The Wheatsheaf

I love The Telescopes. Love it or hate it, their post-Creation output has always provoked a reaction. Their pieces stitched together from samples of bread-makers and other household appliances have always been underpinned by an emotional depth and sense of scale that makes me go weak at the knees. And with early reviews suggesting that their latest mini-album is their best yet, hopes are high heading into tonight’s show. Unfortunately, things go awry from the very moment they arrive: amongst (admittedly unsubstantiated) rumours of intra-band tension, only mainman Stephen Lawrie makes an appearance tonight. And launches straight into a forty-minute solo set of feedback that’s about as much fun as sticking your head inside a jet engine.

Make no mistake – this is no worthwhile exploration into tonality, nor is it brutishly confrontational enough to work as the kind of punch-in-the-face onslaught favoured by Merzbow, KK Null et al. For all the synths, effects units and gadgets at Lawrie’s disposal, it’s a one-trick, single-tone morass of mid-range screeching –  and if that sounds up your street, you were probably one of the three people left after the audience, support bands, soundman and doorman fled for their lives. There’s no progression, peaks and troughs, or development in the music. Just a forty minute VU-meter-in-the-red, Fisher Price My-First-Delay-Pedal teen angst session. In twenty years together, the band rarely put a foot wrong, which makes this evening’s aberration all the more upsetting. Here’s hoping they rediscover their form (and their other members) before this fine old mess does some irremedial damage to their reputation.

I still love The Telescopes. But a Stephen Lawrie solo set? That jet engine is starting to look more and more appealing.

First appeared in Nightshift, November 2006.

1 Comment(s)

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI