Thanks to the over-abundance of premature verbal gushers in music journalism I’ve developed some problems with the phrase ‘up and coming’. If something is up and coming already then what’s next for them? Wiping off their brief blogosphere success with a damp cloth and flaccidly play on to an already bored audience perhaps? Bands shift in and out of listener popularity oh-too quickly when the hype machine is turned up to 11 (I think the knob is stuck there?), and to describe Houdini Dax as simply an up and coming band from Cardiff would be an insult to the lads. They have an established live presence at a sickeningly young age, yes. They’ve already gained respect from the musical peers, correct. Houdini Dax are up, for sure; but the only thing coming in this relationship is the listener, again and again and again.
Let’s take their recent EP, The BBC Sessions as a sample of what to expect; there is an immediate comparison in the music to countless good British rock acts (the guitars meet at a synapse in which both The Beatles’ Rubber Soul and Blur’s Modern Life Is Rubbish are playlisted) but when Jack Butler’s sonically rich vocals swamp each track with a smooth prowess, each song becomes enriched with something that makes this not only very listenable but instantly replayable.
Robin You Lie is a simple, overwhelmingly catchy jam, packed with layered chanting and psychedelic rug-cutting evocation. But it effortlessly achieves something way beyond all the other twee faggots whispering crudely thought out metaphors over a fucking xylophone solo that whimsically thrive in the indie music scene right now. Houdini Dax are a much needed, not so much nostalgic as a refreshingly inspired fuzz-pop that will make dancefloors squeak and the soles of your shoes as smooth as the wet wipe you’ll need to calm your climaxing eardrums.
Stanley.