Days Unkown - Live at the Parrot 10th October 2006
Just arrived in Cheltenham? Need a new musical love to capture your heart and fill your senses? Days Unknown could be the band to do it. With the local live scene slowly suffocating under the weight of venue closures, and clubs peddling 'chart and cheese' in competition, the three-piece are exploring new ways to widen their audience. Shorn of an absent drummer, they began their set in the roomy, friendly Parrot, seated and wielding semi-acoustic guitars. Opening with "Jenny Don't Be Hasty", a Paolo Nutini cover, the band initially struggled to be heard above the lolling pub chatter. However, UoG student Lloyd Fincham's funky, Killers-esque bass lick soon caught the attention, and Ema Ellis' soulful, Delta-Goodrem-gone-rock vocals held it, cutting majestically across lilting two-guitar melodies. Perfect morning-after music, basically, but also more than adequate for a good old-fashioned night before.
Particularly popular with an appreciative audience was a nostalgia-inducing take on Eagle Eye Cherry's campfire strumalong "Save Tonight", but the band's own songs more than held their own. The sensual "Pieces Of Me" displayed an impressive knack with a vocal hook and memorable tune, and "Chase It And Run" towered above all else. Underpinned by a rock-solid, shimmering bass rhythm recalling Foo Fighters' classic "Everlong", Ian Sutton's twinkly picking drifts dreamily in and out of key, as verses of twisted, crumbling romance climb towards a soaring, heartbreaking chorus. Like Bloc Party gone emo, it inspires visions of long, lonely bus rides, teen angst that chills the soul like frostbite, and doomed relationships collapsing in the rain. It is, in short, fantastic.
This stripped-backed sound, however, referenced no other more than Nirvana, specifically their celebrated MTV Unplugged sessions, and there can be no better accolade for an acoustic act than that. While Days Unknown are still obviously adjusting to life without drums, their own brand of emotive rock is consistently engaging.
Review by Rich Partington. www.myspace.com/richthejournalist
To hear this EP click on the following link:- www.myspace.com/daysunknowntheband