There's a bit of a buzz about Minuteman at present. If the flash of
photographers at the Spitz was anything to go by, their PR company must be
working overtime. Formed in early 2000 by Matt Jones, in the aftermath of
Ultrasound's disintegration, the band has released two singles to date.
Words Fail Me Now came out in November 2001 to great interest and
some acclaim and Gave You All The Blame was released.
The titles give you a good clue as to what sort of territory we're in: indie
rock angst, pairing bitter-sweet lyrics with crashing guitars.
Matt Jones is no Pop Idol, with his curious beaky profile, pierced lip and
appalling taste in shirts, but he knows how to write a good tune. His
speciality is adding a great chorus so that by the end of each song it
already feels like an old favourite. At the Spitz the sound balance was
off, so virtually all vocals disappeared - which was a shame (and strange,
as it was fine for a rather good performance by support band Athlete). But
the crashing guitars were in fine form, in the capable hands of James Dare
(a suitably dark, unhealthy-looking rock stereotype who likes to jump up and
down a lot, shaking his dank locks) and Paul Thomson on bass (looking almost
corporate in comparison). Tim Weller on drums / percussion was also
impressive.
There have been many comparisons made for Minuteman's music -
"Sparklehorse playing David Bowie" (Diamond Dogs era); "a less complicated
Cooper Temple Clause'; Mercury Rev, even Elvis Costello and The Hollies...
and I thought I detected some Pearl Jam influences too. All you really need
to know is that they rock, and that the songs are great.
That said, Minuteman could do with establishing a bit more rapport with their
audience. It didn't help when even the few words from Matt Jones in between
songs were inaudible - but after a tight set of some 35 minutes, the sell-out audience
seemed pretty pleased with what they heard.
Definitely one to watch, Minuteman are reportedly putting the
finishing touches to an album for Ignition (the label run by Marcus Russell,
manager of Oasis). One to watch.
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