Noise Control: A Posse To Shoot Holes Through Musical Myths…
Several minutes have passed since I sat down here to write up a review of Noise Control’s performance supporting Calvin Harris at UCD on Friday night. Words are not easily forthcoming.
48-point font would be needed to describe the galloping bass and beats ferocious enough to kickstart hearts straight through the ribcage whilst Mark Kid’s vocals on unrelenting anthems Take It and Addiction strikethrough inhibitions, drawing hands into air-punching frenzy. UCD’s student union was filled with the kind of faces you’d never normally see at gigs but definitely will now. One bystander was heard to quip that Calvin Harris had a hard act to follow and indeed, Harris’ beats were tame and sounded more like an ambient Ibiza DJ calming an after-party crowd.
Sonic scientists, Noise Control surpass the cloned attempts of their peers who imitate the Nineties’ success stories, choosing instead to twine a double helix of hard rock with rave and succeed in creating a new hybrid of DME: dexterous musical experience. Because it is an experience to see NC play live: frentic Kevin Whyms seams with Bobby McMahon’s unruffled rhythm to create a synethesic rainbow, settling like oil atop the waves of El and Dec’s staggering rhythm section. Objectivity is difficult when gigs are consistently awesome: the nearest I can muster to negative criticism is how difficult it will be for the band to capture their on-stage energy in digital when they record their debut album.
From the dingy confines of Kennedy’s to headlining Castle Palooza, supporting behemoth international acts Underworld and The Prodigy, blasting straight through the Irish download charts with their debut single Steel, 2007 has been a year of escalating highs for this posse of motley individuals whose influences somehow gelled against all odds. Where will those galloping beats bring the band in 2008? Saddle up and hold on tight for the ride of a night….