CHEETAHS AT THE LOUISIANA

May 2015

 

Getting down to the Louisiana about an hour too early and then discovering you’re not actually on the guest list as you initially thought, makes for a pretty embarrassing start to the evening. Luckily for us, Cheatahs’ swarming instrumental set numbed our deep, dark pain and social embarrassment to a point where we were able to stop caring and instead enjoy the thundering cloud of amorphous vocals and reverberating guitar distortion.

 

I appreciate the general wave of disdain that comes as a result of uttering the phrases ‘ambient’, ‘effects pedals’ and ‘wall of sound’ in reference to the blessed and simultaneously godforsaken genre of shoegaze-esque music. So I’ll agree to forgo all mention of said idioms if you agree to tolerate the impending wall of musical diarrhoea you have coming your way:

 

The origins of the band are interesting enough: formed in London, but with members also hailing from Canada, California and Germany, it’s a wonder these guys every actually got together. But get together they did, and what great news for us:  as, acting as support for Montreal trio, No Joy, the guys took to the crimson stage and began setting up for their set.

It was almost a little surprising when the deafening tones of pedalled guitars and euphonious ‘oooohs’ filled the tiny room as the four lads kicked right into their set and first song, ‘Geography’ without any real introduction. But then these guys don’t really need an introduction: they’ve already secured a solid Bristol fan base, and even if we don’t bring in to play the fact that they just spent the day recording with Crack Magazine (except that I did); Cheatahs have recently been signed with Wichita, and if this is anything to go by (and I think we can all agree that it is), then they’re only about to get better.

 

Playing tracks from their 2014 album such as ‘Kenworth’, ‘Fall’ and ‘Geographic’, Cheatahs set the timbre for vivid, melodic, garage-rock . Songs such as Sunne, a more recent release of theirs, evoked a far more dream-pop feel, perhaps hinting towards why the Guardian has dubbed the band: ‘the grunge-pop revival continues apace’. Although it may not necessarily be an unfounded observation, it in no way undermines the music; indeed elements of their tracks, such as ‘Fall’, hint delicately towards those original pioneers of the genre, Jesus and the Mary Chain.

 

Cheatahs then went on to break up their set by playing dreamy hit ‘Murasaki’, complete with shimmering, layered guitars and hazy, droning vocals. I think it’s safe to say that Cheatahs have atmospheric garage rock in the bag.

No one in that dark, sweaty room was left disappointed: finishing their brooding set with the infamous hit and dark-indie-garage hybrid, ‘The Swan’, Cheatahs ended their set with nothing less than a sonic cathedral punch. Even a less-eccentric fan of such music is able to appreciate the escape that their introspective sounds offer. Even if they’re not currently breaking any musical boundaries; Cheatahs are definitely riding the wave of the underground genre.