[ originally published 29/12/2019 ]
POM POKO
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff - 25th October 2019
Support: Orchards
'Birthday', the debut album from quirky Norwegians Pom Poko, is one of my favourite records of the year. It's sublimely peculiar, yet irresistably catchy at the same time. The band have been making their name on the live circuit with a string of very well-received festival shows over the summer, so a show at a compact venue like the Clwb was definitely too good to resist.
It was a godawful night weather-wise - well the whole day had been miserable - so we left it late to brave the rain and make the trek into Cardiff. We arrived during support band Orchards' last song, which was a shame as they sounded really good. Would like to have seen more of them.
I hoped Pom Poko would bring some of their album's idiosyncracies to their live show as well as the energy and joy it exudes in great quantities. The myriad rhythms, time signatures and arrangements would be difficult for many bands to pull off onstage, yet Pom Poko do it effortlessly. So effortlessly in fact, you could be forgiven for thinking they mime along to the record - they sound so on point.
The set centred around said debut album, but also found room for a smattering of new songs and an early single or two. Singer Ragnhild bounced around the stage like Zebedee for the entire set, wearing a permanent grin as big as the band's backdrop - there was the energy, right there, in abundance. It's difficult to pinpoint where Pom Poko's sound comes from, though they do cite the likes of Ali Farka Touré and Death Grips among their influences so its little wonder there is such exhuberance.
Highlights included the cowbell-heavy Crazy Energy Nights, My Blood, Leg Day, It's A Trap, Follow The Lights and Day Tripper. And then there was this gem: "This is a song about milk," Ragnhild informed us as she introduced Milk Trust. "If you like milk, it's a good song for you. If you don't like milk, well it might still be a good song for you." A loud, Welsh-accented voice bellowed: "I'M LACTOSE INTOLERANT!" "Then you have no hope," replied guitarist Martin amid the laughter. You can always trust a loud Welshman to give good banter!
We were all done by 10pm, but blimey, what a great show. I stuck around to buy 'Birthday' on vinyl (which I had somehow neglected to do before then) and the band duly signed it. As well as one of my top albums, Pom Poko delivered one of my top gigs of the year too. Back outside, it hardly mattered that it was still raining - we'd had a bit of rare Norwegian sunshine to brighten our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment