Live Review: DUST/Knees Please/Methods @ Tachles Bar, Tel Aviv [25th February 2016]

Tonight sees me back at Tachles Bar to see 2 of my favourite Tel Aviv bands, Dust and Knees Please, and new band Methods.

Methods

 Methods are a pretty new Tel Aviv trio. Playing songs which flick in between styles, all three members are incredibly competent musicians. Although their first song, entitled "2", has quite a melodic punk feel with vocal harmony and a clean riff, their material in general tends to have a bit of Quicksand meets Prong vibe, which, I guess, essentially could be considered a "Helmet vibe".
 The songs in general tend to be very coherent and easy on the ear. Even the shouting is something your parents won't be too bothered by. Bassist Greg and guitarist Max gel together, both in terms of playing and their vocals. It might not necessarily be super pitch perfect harmonies all the time but they are in sync and give the same amount of energy. Drummer Vladi is one of those more professional drummers I tend to see often at shows like this. Not only is he listening through headphones but his actual technique and use of varying time signatures and drum patterns is impressive and possibly what makes them such an interesting new band. Some of the more dance/drum n bass beats he does gives everything a bit of a Therapy? feel. They seem to have that same sense of experimentation with mixing rock with electronica and are giving each in the right dosage.
 They seem to be in their very early stages, as the fact all their songs are currently numbers proves. This could be their thing a la Karma To Burn and other such bands but either way, it doesn't really matter. 1.1, the only track of theirs currently online, is a good example of what they do, although they definitely show their skills more in other songs. The crowd, both those familiar and unfamiliar with the song, were dancing a bit and nodding their heads. Actually, there was a fair bit of dancing throughout and they got quite a good crowd for an opening act.
  Methods seem to manage to mix the easy listening metal of bands like Helmet and Prong with the more technical musicianship of bands like Deftones and Tool and create something that actually sounds quite fresh.

4.5/5 

Knees Please

 I've written about Knees Please before, and I even got them to play my birthday show. Despite both band names that they have had over the past years, I still stand by the fact that they bring back a familiar sound of the more heavier, sludgy side to early grunge that makes me feel happy. Certainly seems to have the same effect on the crowd here tonight. They could just be drunk and/or stoned, but, hey, that's their people.

 The band play only three songs from their Where's Ma Money? debut and four currently unreleased tracks. I don't think it matters all that much to the crowd as many of them are either here to just jump around like crazy to anything or to just sit and stare at the band's two models. I haven't heard I Came Blood live for a while so it's nice to hear it tonight. It's a weird song lyrically, but has an awesome groove which many here appreciate. New song Barry The Lizard is a personal favourite of mine, being more funky and crazy than the others.
  Guitarist and vocalist Alex and drummer David are on great form as always, with David always managing to cover small mistakes with ease, such as losing a stick, continuing with one hand and quickly grabbing another stick. However, it is new bassist, Ben, not to be confused with the previous bassist also called Ben, who currently steals the show for me every time I see them. Not only is his playing on point, but he is ridiculously enthusiastic, charismatic and also joins in on vocals which shows has really stepped Knees Please up a notch. 

4/5

DUST

  DUST seem to have become my Tel Aviv version of Knuckledust. There used to be a time when Knuckledust were playing in London almost every week and I would go and see them. DUST seem to be constantly doing shows and I'm managing to catch them almost every time. To be honest, seeing and hearing pretty much the same set over and over again can be a tad tedious but it's lucky that they have some tunes that simply really get me pumped.
 From their intros alone, songs like their opening song Slipping Away and Numb get me moving and smiling. It's a little bit complicated to get fully into it tonight as the "floor" is filled, but I manage to get a bit of a boogie on. Everyone else starts push pitting and running about as each song gets going, and frontman Evya does his part to get involved. Newer songs like Plastic and typical set closer Sick and Tired are starting to become more recognisable at shows and I can't wait for them to come out in recorded form.
  The band are still super tight. It's obvious why Ofek was also taken on as the new Kids Insane guitarist; not just because they're friends but the boy has something. Not only can he play but he plays with a certain style and passion. I think he got even better since growing his hair...
  It's hard for me to get totally bored of DUST but this fan is desperate to hear new songs. NEWER songs. I wouldn't even mind a cover here and there. Just switch it up a bit!

5/5



All pics by David "Doh Doh" Rosen

Live Review: Hardcore Attack! @ Tachles Bar [Thursday 1st October 2015]

DUST

03 (Efes Shalosh)

Dam Al Zona

Sick Society

Tonight, I come to Tachles Bar in south Tel Aviv for a night of some of Israel's up and coming hardcore bands, including a band I haven't seen or even heard of before.

Sick Society

   First up is fairly new thrash influenced band, Sick Society. I've seen them at least a couple of times before but wasn't really into it. The last time that I remember was at the Zimmer and the whole set was a bit of a mess. Their drummer, Andrey, just wasn't on point; unable to keep tempo and sloppy fills which thus made everything sound very mediocre. By tonight's performance, the band has certainly done some hard work. Andrey's playing is tight, showcasing some impressive blast beats, and the sound over all is better than before.
 They might not be doing anything new but there are parts that make me nod my head and other parts that get a lot of the fans tonight going berserk. Songs like All Nazis Are Bastards and Black Penguin Society are more in the vein of simple street/crust punk, making them sound like many of the other Russian/Israeli bands out here. Other songs such as crowd favourite, The Slaughter, has a more crossover backbone and sounds especially impressive tonight.
  Guitarist, Johnny, plays some really old school style solos which, when he gets them perfect, fit really well and help them stand out a little bit more. Frontman, Alon, looking as thrash as possible, might not have anything unique about his vocal style or presence, but he loves the music and he loves the crowd. He shows that by crowd surfing, managing to return to the stage just in time to continue the song. He also brought a bit of fun to the party at the very beginning by wearing a Lucha Libre mask, but that quickly lost its charm, as it pretty much always does.
  My views on Sick Society have changed slightly and I definitely enjoyed them more tonight than before, they're just not interesting enough right now, although newer songs, The Dancing Monkey and "The Last Song", do show potential and progress.

3/5

Dam Al Zona

   Here's the band I'd never heard of before. Dam Al Zona (lit. Blood On A Whore), are a four piece from Tel Aviv who simply play some crazy shit. They look like they should be playing old school death metal but, instead, have that crust/early hardcore punk sound. The songs seem to be mostly in Hebrew, and due to live vocals for this sort of stuff being generally quite unclear, I couldn't tell you much about what they were talking about, but the songs are short, fast and chaotic.
  Frontman, Yuval, brings some hardcore punk ethos to the performance. He verges on the line of GG Allin, stripping off to his underwear, banging his head with the mic and even letting crowd members kick him and jump on him while he writhes about on the floor covered in (what I hope was) beer. Sometimes, the time keeping on the whole wasn't also kept in check, but it was certainly an energetic live performance worth seeing.

3/5

03

   I've written a bit about 03 (Efes Shalosh) before. They're one of those bands that I've grown to like more and more over time. Especially since taking on guitarist Lemmy (Sintax), the whole stage performance and even the sound are somehow both much tougher. 
   Frontman Jenia has always been consistent. He has sung for both Instinct and Brutal Assault (maybe even others) and his vocal style hasn't changed. Luckily, 03 are musically more metal than the previous bands and thus doesn't just sound like a carbon copy of either one of them. He moves about the floor space, trying to get crowd members riled up and ready to move, which always helps in a performance.  

  No Racism is currently the band's stand out track, with cool grooves and some great "chugs" in the middle. They have more songs in their set than before and the newer ones sound even tougher. Comparisons to bands like Terror and Death Before Dishonour are obvious, although I'm eagerly awaiting the band's upcoming album to hear what else they have to offer. 

4/5

DUST

   Dust! How many frickin' times have I seen Dust now? I can't even count. Over the last few months, I've must have seen them at least once a week (I just didn't bother writing about it.) Yet another band who are meant to be releasing an album soon, these guys and their mix of unconventional stoner time signatures and hardcore aggression just gets me every time. They still practically do the same set over and over again, which, for a band who has to have been around now for at least 2 years already, you'd think would have expanded a little bit more. There are some new songs, but they're harder to get into. I'm ok with odd time signatures but when a song doesn't really settle into a groove, it's hard to follow and enjoy it. That's the feeling I get with some of the newer songs. That being said, I can't wait to hear the new album. 

4.5/5

All photos by Sharon Ronen