Scroobius Pip presents We Are Lizards, Saturday 9th February, Sunrooms, Southend

Saturday night in Southend, Essex poet Scroobius Pip took up the role of promoter/DJ upstairs at the Sunrooms. The bill was packed with acts but I had no idea what to expect as all the ticket said was ‘Scroobius Pip presents We Are Lizards’.

High/Low were the first band in the tiny room and I’d never heard of them before, so I wasn’t ready for the loud thrashy bass-lines that they delivered. The reminded me of early Feeder, with the punk style songs but with vocals that are sung not shouted. It felt like they were on a mission as they barely stopped for breath between each high energy, fast paced track. As High/Low powered through their set-list I noticed hints of Nirvana in their sound, especially the vocals, but when paying attention to the drummer I could hear some great technical moments that contrasted well with the simple chord based guitar and after paying attention to the individual components of the band I started to get a better idea of what they are about, not just thrashy angry punk-style rock but maybe something a bit more thoughtful, but I’ll need another listen to be sure (good thing I got a free EP from the band).

The second band was FutureAges, I’d describe them as a ‘prog-esque’ band, disjointed rhythms at times and changes in the entire sound mid-song sounded very much like what I’d expect from a typical prog band, but FutureAges had something a bit darker about them, a bit more serious than I was expecting. Brilliant lead vocals from the girl with the microphone really impressed me (although the volumes didn’t sound quite right at times as the vocals sometimes sounded a bit faded) and the guitarists’ effects pedals managed to transform the songs at every progression from prog to metal to punk. There was a technical problem with the bass that gave guitarist a few minutes to go full prog with a nice impromptu solo distracting crowd from bassist fixing the technical hitch. The vocals almost sounded like a pop style, clear and clean without the growling I would expect, even in the heavy bits. The distortion contrasted well with the clean vocals to create a great sound and the packed room seemed as impressed as I was.

Scroobius assumed the role of DJ, playing a very eclectic mix of old school rap, R&B and a few indie mash ups in the break…

Oh wait, that wasn't a break, it turned out the bands were done and the rest of the packet list were DJs, which was a shame because I was hoping Scroobius Pip was going to do an actual performance of some sort. Still the two acts that weren't DJs were very good and after a bit of reaching for the lasers in this tiny room of house and trip-hop (with a bit of drum and bass) it was time to call it a night. Well worth the £5 ticket price though, especially because I now have two new bands to keep an ear out for.

Get some High/Low - www.facebook.com/wearehighlow

And some FutureAges - www.futureages.com/