The End of Out Of Step in Wolverhampton - Sad Times and Rad Times

Monday saw Wolverhampton wave goodbye to Out Of Step’s monthly shows, but not before an incredible leaving party featuring four amazing bands. From the moment Moondad took the stage you could tell it was going to be a special night, they played their hearts out and brought headline quality to the bottom of the bill.

Their combination of shoegaze and noise was delivered with intelligence and bags of energy. It is rare  for a band inspired by shoegaze and noise to be easily accessible without loosing too much of their experimental side, however Moondad were an exception. Their set was topped off with a great Smiths cover, usually I hate covers within a bands set but great covers were to develop into one of the themes for the night.

Sheffield tropical punks Heebie Jeebies were next to blow the audience away, and despite the brilliance of Moondad they took it up another level. The combination of noticeable influences from almost every type of music imaginable, deep vocals and obscure lyrics creates a sound unlike any other. This individual style is thrashed out at a furious pace live and is impossible not to enjoy.

God Damn were next to tackle the ever raising bar of brilliance and created a style which chopped and changed as their set progressed. The elements of hardcore were loud and aggressive, at times the riffs were raw and huge, and just to keep the audience guessing there was even some incredible harmonica. God Damn again delivered a faultless cover with a truly individual reworking of a Strokes track. As the hardcore scene develops in Wolverhampton God Damn offer hardcore with something more experimental and with a fantastic lofi DIY feel throughout.

Finally after the audience and the promoters were hyped to the max, by three of the best sets in Out Of Step history, Not Cool took the stage. These Dalston based punks are one of the best acts Out Of Step have put on and deserve every success. Their individual sound has elements of early indie such as the Pixies and Smiths combined with punk and hardcore throughout it’s existence to create an instantly recognisable sound. Fuzzy guitars are balanced with energetic baselines, passionate vocals and frantic drumming. The band topped off the night with a great cover of one of my favourite songs by the Minutemen.

Tonight showed that Wolverhampton still had a heart but unfortunately for Out Of Step and Alchemy it was a case of too little too late. Tonight’s varied line up showed examples of four incredible live bands at the top of their game, please go and check them all out.