Live Review: Shiva & The Hazards, Honey Badgers

8 May 2013 | 12:01 pm | Stephanie Tell

It’s a melancholy end to an entertaining night of modernised, rocky covers and retro-inspired originals, all of which solidly affirm that attending local gigs gets you much bang for very little buck.

Pop-rock four-piece Honey Badgers open Black Night Crash tonight upstairs at the Rochester Castle. A cover-heavy outfit, the band incorporate biting blues guitar riffs and poppy hooks into a strong alternative rock set. Their triumphant blues-rock cover of Paul Simon's Kodachrome is a particular highlight as it showcases vocalist and guitarist Alastair Matcott's enthusiasm and showmanship.

Watching Matcott on stage it's difficult not to compare him to Wavves' Nathan Williams with his garage look; his black shaggy hair swishing about coupled with his strong, unusual rocky voice. His light anecdotal banter gets the audience on side, letting their guard down to readily absorb Honey Badgers' fun take on their alt.rock and noise-pop combo. This and the beginnings of a woozying dry ice onslaught put the crowd at ease and pumped for the headliners.

After the room is crammed with enough dry ice to set off the fire alarms for the rest of the night, Shiva & The Hazards arrive to perform their UK sendoff show. A newly formed three-piece who demonstrate an impressive density of sound with a single guitar, the band are minimalist on the audience interaction, instead impressing with their brand of reverb-heavy psychedelic rock with clear influences ranging from Primal Scream to Oasis. 

Tunes such as the memorable Ways Of Escape, an older, good vibe song from their days as The Solomons, exhibit the band's rich and rhythmic retro-inspired sound and accomplished change of rhythms accompanied by Doug Hind's strong, clear vocals. Other dirtier rock melodies such as East India Empress reveal a great balance between dissonant noise-pop and catchy chord progressions performed in a coherent and captivating manner.

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Shiva & The Hazards continue the theme of the night with their classic tributes including an infectious rocky cover of Jefferson Airplane's Somebody To Love. Leigh Baines' punchy, tom-tom heavy drum beats evokes a Meg White on speed effect, which gets the crowd bubbling to the familiar song.

Before the set comes to an end, Hind announces that it will be their bassist for the past six months Ashley Davis's last gig with the band while Hind and Baines are off to Europe. It's a melancholy end to an entertaining night of modernised, rocky covers and retro-inspired originals, all of which solidly affirm that attending local gigs gets you much bang for very little buck.