Salter Cane gig review
This is a review of the Salter Cane gig at the Prince Albert on December 6th 2008.
Salter Cane are an Americana four piece based in Brighton. Although primarily a British group, bassist Jessica hails from the states, so there is more than a touch of authenticity to their ‘alt country’ sound. Described by some Nick Cave meets Joy Division, the band do have their own sound, helped out by the fact one of the four, Jeremy Keith, plays a Bouzouki (its a Greek instrument which sounds a lot like a mandolin!). The band often play at The Prince Albert, and can be found supporting some great Americana acts as part of the Guilded Palace of Sin series among others.
On record (and I’d only heard one track), the lead singer does indeed sound a lot like Nick Cave, and I wasn’t sure how original tonight’s set would be. Live however the band come into their own, and sound as individual as is possible for such a well trodden musical path. As mentioned before, the Bouzouki helps keep things sounding a little unusual, but the lead singer Chris Askew really puts passion into these songs, and its his voice and lyrics that raised the bar tonight. It turned out I’d seen him perform solo before in a pub and had been pleasantly surprised then too. He doesn’t look like a rock star, but has five times the passion of most of today’s so called ‘top performers’ who often look like they’re simply going through the motions in a stupor (Brandon Flowers, Gary Lightbody and that one whose name must not be mentioned, take note).
The band were very well received by the crowd, and although quite a few people were talking during the gig, mostly it was either about how good the band were, how Jeremy had got the wrong shade of shirt for the red and black uniform worn by Chris and drummer Jamie (his was kind of mauve), and whether Jamie looked more like David Bowie or Kevin Bacon. The focus was undoubtedly the band, and with Chris’s manic eyes and performance who could be distracted for long.
A great night, a passionate performance and a band to see next time they play. Check out the Salter Cane website for dates.
Mark Kirby
A second opinion on the night
The Sea Will Decide opens up tonight with his best song ‘Half Way Down” – “I’m moving in circles but you’re halfway down” sings Lee Nikolas Tucknott. If he’s talking about our expectation levels, he couldn’t be further wrong. “I’m always drawing circles, you walk straight lines” is a slow-burning metaphor that Tucknott keeps returning to, reigniting the crowds curiosity. The rest of the set fails to hold the same intrigue but doesn’t suffer from not being nice. ‘Nice’ isn’t really on the agenda tonight though. We’re here to get spooked.
Darkness is top priority for The Misbegotten however, their gothic narratives prove blackly irresistible “You ran like you never ran before” shrieks Andrew E. Western during the stellar ‘Bring Your Love Here.’ His long spaghetti legs move in all kinds of directions. This isn’t just alt. country or a man with the blues; it’s a bastardized genre of the two. You could call it ‘Creepy Crawly’. It’s loaded with sinister love stories, maintains a relentless pace and is scarier than anything from Scooby Doo.
Salter Cane is the most enchanting proposition though. Interestingly, Joy Division is cited as their main influence, but this only becomes apparent with time. As the band progress through their material, shades of Ian Curtis can be seen Chris Askew’s eyes, it’s as if Curtis himself stayed alive and fronted a country band. Either that, or Curtis has possessed Askews body for a haunting. At first witnessing, Salter Cane recalls Nick Cave. Cave and Curtis eventually coalesce as the set progresses and one person’s choice of the spiciest tomato juice known to man suddenly makes perfect sense as an accompaniment. In fact it would be extremely fitting if the whole crowd were drinking Bloody Marys. “Oh, I’m such a wicked boy,” concludes Askew, his charisma is such that we can’t tell if it’s really true or not, but who cares when he uses sorrow to such devastatingly great effect?
Marcus Walsh
