Time Out London previews our show
April 30th, 2009 | Published in Reviews
Original article posted Sept 29, 2008 at: www.timeout.com
By Chris Parkin
Foot Village + Pre + Drawlings
Fri Oct 3 2008
at The Luminaire, 307-311 Kilburn High Rd, NW6 7JR
Animal from ‘The Muppets’ has been waiting a long time for Foot Village to arrive. Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem just aren’t wiggy enough for him any more, so, after years of boredom, FV will show him that where it’s at. Not only do these booming Californians drum with flailing arms and a pounding intensity rarely heard outside of a building site, FV require four – yes, four – drummers. And, bar a bit of screaming, very little else.
To less adventurous ears (or those that can’t detect a good time) FV might sound like they’re missing something – like tunes and riffs and that. But FV’s raging (but arranged) drums manage to sound, all at once, like the thrashed, percussive guitars of hardcore punk, a couple of Rolls-Royce jet engines and the war drums of an easily irritated tribe. It’s untamed pre-rock, aligning the band with Liars, Lightning Bolt and the current LA scene, which Brian Miller is a major player in, helping to run The Smell, venue of choice for bands like Health and The Mae-Shi.
They might say things like ‘Rock ’n’ roll died the day Dio broke up’, but there’s more to FV than demented noise. Their two albums, ‘World Fantasy’ and ‘Friendship Nation’, have, firstly, examined the world, and, secondly, detailed what a society of their own making will be like: ‘It’s the celebration of the formation of the nation,’ they say. A party that’s not without bloodshed, we’re sure.