Eddie Current Suppression Ring - Roxanne's Parlour

Eddie Current Suppression Ring (Henceforth ECSR or this review will go on for ever) do things their own way. Despite rising to the heady heights of ‘buzz band’ status, they book their own gigs, promote their own gigs, manage themselves and still find the time to write some damn good material. Roxanne’s is packed tonight with a crowd biting at the bit and raring to go, Dead Farmers, resplendent in checked lumberjack shirts (Grunge dead? Never!) Don’t quite seem to ever get going, stopping and starting and making adjustments to gear and when they’re finally getting into the swing of things and the set is beginning to take form and take shape, they have to finish. However the crowd are up for anything that’s thrown at them and love it.
After a brief changeover with the room and the crowd bustling ECSR take to the stage with an unceremonious and unassuming manner, just sort of slowly appearing there and starting as opposed to any great entry. No sooner have they emitted the first note of the first song does the crowd starts jumping, dancing, smiling and flying about the room, eventually some security appear, and as usual for venues such as Roxanne’s, don’t really know what to do apart from stand there and look imposing, but no one cares anyway. Brendan Suppression (vocals) paces the stage in a pair of curious fingerless black gloves, looking almost awkward to be there, Eddy Current on guitar just sort of hovers on stage looking equally out of place thwacking out jangly, garage riffs over Rob Solid’s massive bass sound and Danny Current’s frantic drumming. It doesn’t make any sense, ECSR are a great band, but the music isn’t that fast and danceable, at times it’s even a little slow, unyet the crowd go wild for the band’s entire set, never relenting. The band look somewhat uncomfortable on stage, rarely making eye contact with the crowd and even discouraging them from becoming too raucous, but the crowd is hanging off their every word and action, ready to fly off into a frenzy at any given moment. How do the band do it? Do they even know themselves? ECSR are a band for the rejects and the outsiders of the music scene who have somehow managed to trick the cool kids into thinking that they’re part of them, they don’t look right, they shouldn’t be, but are, the best sort of Rock stars.

Published in InPress