Where do you go after conquering the world for 20 years and becoming an iconic figurehead of your scene? Well, in the case of The Charlatans singer Tim Burgess, you go right back to the start. Tonight at Manchester's Castle Hotel, we all pack into one of the City's smallest venues to see what O Genesis, Tim's new record label has to offer. Castle Hotel is a very deceptive venue. All sweet and petite with it's writer's desk (turned condiments holder) at the back and Victorian furnishings, it very swiftly becomes a Dollhouse-sized sweatbox playing host to a menagerie of pissed up indie groovers for the 'O Genesis presents' night.
Make no mistake though, this is not at all about Tim. In fact he's so elusive in his presence that the spotlight isn't on him once, not even for his supposed DJ set afterwards, for which he made a quick getaway and humbly slinked off. Instead it is firmly on the bands he is presenting tonight.
First up are two-piece girl band, Replicas. One part Hole, one part Stepford Wives, they make for a seriously unique duo. It really is a clash of styles at times; swaying throughout the set between ominous bass and straight-faced electronica meeting with shoegaze guitar, that at times becomes almost thrashy. When confronted halfway through with technical difficulties they suffer a dragged-out awkwardness, only to pull it back with style and humour. Even with these little problems, they never lose the atmosphere they've created; a kind of beautiful doom that really takes hold. It is certainly a distinct mix but it's done with such quiet cool that you just accept it and eventually love it.
In his blink-and-you'll-miss-it set (really, he played four songs), Joseph Coward brings with him possibly the highlight of the night with his cover of The Smashing Pumpkins- 'To Forgive'. The fact he has stripped away all other elements of the song, right down to just guitar and vocals gives us a bare bones rendition that offers up the most gripping moment of the night by a long way, as well as a contender for the best version of the song. New single 'Jesus Christ' shows that young Coward has an old soul, drawing on his slightly unnerving ability to turn a room of half drunk disco junkies into silent gawkers. It's all quite haunting, making for both a soulful and soul destroying experience, in a good way.
By this point in the evening, O Genesis has already proved it's worth, but the whole place agree there's still plenty of room for Electricity In Our Homes, who whip up the eerie mood into a pulping sea of rippling rhythm. In an instant they get the room moving, as well as heavily sweating. Looking like a mismatch of Franz Ferdinand and Pixies, with a sound that could use the same description, they hurl out a very tight batch of bouncing beats, crossing from indie disco to almost verging on punk. Considering someone told us to be quiet while they sound checked earlier in the evening, they throttled along as if the death of modern indie never happened.
So that's that. O Genesis just kicked off with a launch to remember and hopefully Tim can help keep these bands airborne a lot longer, although judging by tonight, they'll do just fine.
Make no mistake though, this is not at all about Tim. In fact he's so elusive in his presence that the spotlight isn't on him once, not even for his supposed DJ set afterwards, for which he made a quick getaway and humbly slinked off. Instead it is firmly on the bands he is presenting tonight.
First up are two-piece girl band, Replicas. One part Hole, one part Stepford Wives, they make for a seriously unique duo. It really is a clash of styles at times; swaying throughout the set between ominous bass and straight-faced electronica meeting with shoegaze guitar, that at times becomes almost thrashy. When confronted halfway through with technical difficulties they suffer a dragged-out awkwardness, only to pull it back with style and humour. Even with these little problems, they never lose the atmosphere they've created; a kind of beautiful doom that really takes hold. It is certainly a distinct mix but it's done with such quiet cool that you just accept it and eventually love it.
In his blink-and-you'll-miss-it set (really, he played four songs), Joseph Coward brings with him possibly the highlight of the night with his cover of The Smashing Pumpkins- 'To Forgive'. The fact he has stripped away all other elements of the song, right down to just guitar and vocals gives us a bare bones rendition that offers up the most gripping moment of the night by a long way, as well as a contender for the best version of the song. New single 'Jesus Christ' shows that young Coward has an old soul, drawing on his slightly unnerving ability to turn a room of half drunk disco junkies into silent gawkers. It's all quite haunting, making for both a soulful and soul destroying experience, in a good way.
By this point in the evening, O Genesis has already proved it's worth, but the whole place agree there's still plenty of room for Electricity In Our Homes, who whip up the eerie mood into a pulping sea of rippling rhythm. In an instant they get the room moving, as well as heavily sweating. Looking like a mismatch of Franz Ferdinand and Pixies, with a sound that could use the same description, they hurl out a very tight batch of bouncing beats, crossing from indie disco to almost verging on punk. Considering someone told us to be quiet while they sound checked earlier in the evening, they throttled along as if the death of modern indie never happened.
So that's that. O Genesis just kicked off with a launch to remember and hopefully Tim can help keep these bands airborne a lot longer, although judging by tonight, they'll do just fine.
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