Mr Ron Jetson & Acquaintances - The Amersham Arms - 21/01/10

The Myspace page of Mr Ron Jetson gives little away. However, the claim that he sounds like 'Chris Martin being fucked up the arse by satan' coupled with rumours that he was a 'hottie' was enough to get me down The Amersham Arms on this chilly evening.

I sadly missed the opportunity to see Mr Ron himself, though those of you familiar with my radio show - Untried and Untested (Tue 7-9pm) - may have managed to catch an earful of him last Tuesday as I played the cheeky ‘Femme Fatale'. It's just the right blend of artschool comedy and actual musical skill.

Arriving just shy of 10pm, the band usually known as Nought had renamed themselves Womblout for the ocassion in order to treat us to an extended experimental jam. The noise they were making certainly demonstrated a certain level of skill, but their amps were up so LOUD. Call me old and past-it if you want,but I really reckon turning down the levels to just below deafening would have allowed me to listen to them properly without feeling like I was self-harming.

As a result, this fairly well-attended room kept well clear of the stage (aside from a few headbanging mad-experimental types round the edges). This might have somewhat explained the band's apparent disregard of their listeners as they entered into an utterly self-indulgent 20-minute act of musical masturbation. Utterly experimental and in all senses ‘free', any music they were producing was sadly covered by a layer of distorted mess.

My fag break signalled a breakpoint, but upon my return DJ Tommy Two Screens had taken to the decks. He provided a refreshing blend of funky ska, mixing classics like The Specials' Ghost Town with some more obscure tunes that nontheless kept the crowd dancing.

Up next was experimental blues/metal duo Dead Days Beyond Help . I feared another headache, but these guys were rather more forgiving. Unlike the previous band, they had the courtesy to make music with a definitive start and end point! I was pretty impressed by how tight they were as they accomplished some great feats of synchronised silence. Alex Ward's guitar riffs somehow managed to groove bluesily through its distorted metal sound, whilst Jem's frantic drumming incorporated ska and even indie-pop elements to create a pretty unique sound. Unfortunately it wasn't quite my scene, but kudos needs to be given to the guys (as well as Tommy Two Screens) for giving the punters a fresh and unusual gig experience.

'Access Denied!' is Dead Days Beyond Help's debut album and is available from Copepod Records, their own indie label