Going from the name of this band, I figured that they could be a bit whimsical, possibly involving cellos, and maybe a bit on the folk side. In all honesty I knew nothing of these before I turned up so I didn't really know what to expect.
How to describe LEAVE LAND FOR WATER? Well, there was certainly a musical Pick-n-Mix here, which made for an interesting gig in terms of "Spot-the-Genre". Prog-rock psychedelia with folky undertones was the best I could come up with. Leave Land For Water seem to really be into their long, drawn out conceptual musical phases. So if you're a dedicated fan of 3-4 minute long pop-snacks then this band may not be for you.
LLFW comprise of Lucas (vocals/guitar), Ollie (lead guitar), Tim (keys/effects/vocals), Tom (bass) and Simon (drums/percussion). This band have myriads of influences to their music; the most obvious one to me was the Boo Radleys, and also Incubus (the early years), Pearl Jam, and My Bloody Valentine - with Lucas' vocals reminiscent of Ian Brown and Steve Mason (the Beta Band). However, they manage to combine all this to make a nice organic and original sound. On asking about their musical influences, they predictably answered, enthusiastically, that their musical base is all over the shop. Interestingly, Ollie confessed to being a die-hard raver who hated all forms of rock music (although judging by his age, he must have been about 8 years old at the time - liberal parenting perhaps?). On asking how he ended up playing lead guitar in - God forbid - an indie/prog-rock band, he just looked bemused and then simply stated "I don't really know".
Their set was littered with huge amounts of nice sound effects, and they came complete with engineer who darted about doing "stuff" - which looked pretty cool even if I didn't understand it. There was also some impressive triangle-action from the drummer - an underrated instrument if ever there was one - and plenty of "Jazz Odyssey" moments throughout which all kicked in to give satisfyingly climatic endings. I'd like to mention here that Simon (drums) deserves a special mention here, mainly because at one point he was drumming so fast his arms because one big blur for an extended period of time, muscles of steel, excellent stuff.
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The only criticism I had of this band, and I mean this in the most constructive way, was that - as Leave Land for Water are fairly new - in terms of performance and delivery they are a bit rough around the edges. As musicians they are undoubtedly very talented, but as performers they came across as a bit wooden. In fact, these guys took shoe-gazing to a different level - and at one point all band members had their backs to the audience for the entire length of a solo (in prog-rock terms this can range from about 7 to 15 minutes). This is a massive no-no for me, as it will never fails to alienate the audience, their attention is lost, and any atmosphere goes down the toilet. This was slightly the case here, as the more finer details of their songs got lost amid the din of the chatting crowds - which was a shame because I liked what they were trying to achieve musically.
Saying that, working on delivery is not rocket science, and I'm sure that these guys will get the knack after a bit more exposure. I really hope so, because they are a very good band, and down-right lovely chaps to boot!
This Bristol-based band formed in 2003, and have slowly been building a name for themselves on the circuit. Having recently finished recording their debut EP "As the Shadows Begin to get Shorter" (released via Sink and Stove label), Leave Land for Water are now embarking on a mini-tour of the UK, although why they've chosen a Victorian Tea Parlour as part of this is beyond me - should be interesting though...
http://www.leavelandforwater.com
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