Photo courtesy of Courtney Askey
Sometimes though, really nice things happen and our two nations forget about the centuries of arguing over stupid words and what goes in a cooked breakfast, cold blooded killing, Margaret Thatcher and how you always ask us to say "there's been a murder".
And a really nice thing did happen this week (despite the loss of my hero and angel David Bowie). Courtney Askey, the queen of intergalactic grunge folk released her debut single with Blizzard Records, called Paris Apartment, at a fantastically sparkly night at The Cookie in Leicester.
I've followed Courtney's musical endeavours since 2011 when she was a 16 year old green haired acoustic guitar player posting covers on a soundcloud account. Five years later, Courtney Askey is a proper grown up musician and artist lady - even if she does eat chocolate cereal for dinner sometimes - with a record deal and her very own unique sound influenced by everyone from PJ Harvey and Nick Cave, to Courtney Love and Tom Waits.
Arriving at The Cookie, I noted I'd never seen such an elaborately decorated venue - there was silver streamers over every speaker, glow in the dark balloons, an incredible light show, a disco ball, a holographic banner featuring the title of Courtney's song and space themed party hats for all attendees. It felt much more like a party than a gig.
Photo courtesy of Keith Jobey
First on was Echolocation who recently celebrated their tenth anniversary together. Echolocation have a very distinctive sound and a very distinctive singer. Pete, their front man is rather intimidating as he swaggers around the stage with a curled lip, practically spitting out lyrics about the shabby state of affairs in the world over a expertly composed and performed post punk sound. Towards the end of the set, Pete announces we are going to do some meditation. He is not joking. This very northern voice instructs us to find our inner souls. Looking around the crowd, I notice people of all kinds of age groups are completely engrossed in what he's saying. One young student type boy shouts to his friend: "This is on another level!" Echolocation know exactly what they're doing - they are experts of their trade.
Next up were Ash Mammal. Ash Mammal seem to have racked up masses of popularity in the brief time they've been together and rightly so. Their sound is an exciting combination of beauty and dirt; front man Cass snarling and shouting in his distinctive Brian Molko-esque voice while drummer Anya manages to competently drum and sing in their gorgeously soft echo-ey way. Ash Mammal are theatrical. Cass moves, sings, talks in a way that is more like performance art than a half hour music set. In a surprise move towards the end of their performance, bassist Jeeves makes a move to do lead vocals in a song about this really bad guy named Freddy and kicks Cass in the shin, tripping over in the process. It only adds to the theatrics. And it's okay because Cass was so hyped up on adrenaline he didn't feel anything anyway.
Finishing the night was the girl we'd all been waiting for, Courtney Askey. Miss Askey never fails to impress and her set proves that she can do just about anything and everything she puts her mind to (notably, organise this entire event and fill the room to pretty much maximum capacity). The colourful, trippy visuals and Courtney's fully baby pink outfit combined with her fantastically honest songs create an atmosphere that you don't want to leave. Dan and Andy from Echolocation do a wonderful job providing drums and bass to Courtney's songs and give them an edge that is far beyond her age. Throughout the set she brings a series of collaborators on and off stage, performing alone with only her guitar, then dueting with various artists from the night, everything coming to a climax with an incredible passionate rendition of her single Paris Apartment. For this, we have a synth player, a bassist, two guitarists, a drummer and of course Courtney. The entire set is expertly held together and each song offers something a little different. When she announces her final song, Infinity Theory, the crowd goes "aw!" In unison. Everyone wants more from this greatly talented young woman.
Photo courtesy of Keith Jobey
The level of planning, thought and effort put into the night was exceptional. It was so much more than a gig. I have no doubts that the new Ash Mammal EP and of course the debut Courtney Askey album will live up to all expectations. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if these incredibly young musicians blow us away more than we can possibly imagine.
Beneath are my own pictures of the evening (which only back up my point that the event was far more of a massive musical party than a gig)
