After the headache caused by the Cody gig last Thursday night (I'm now wondering whether it was the alcohol or just Cody himself - sorry Chucky and the diehard Cody fans, I will leave him alone now) Duds and I managed to drag ourselves to Candy's to check out The Light Brigade. I had been feeling sorry for myself all night. Drinks after work when you're already hungover followed by another couple of hours of sobering up never helps. I really didn't want to be out. This all changed as we arrived at Candy's. We were immediately confronted with the support act Cuthbert and The Nightwalkers. Sounding similar to the Decemberists but with girls squealing in the background (that normally annoys the shit out of me but trust me, it works somehow) we listened to songs about MASH (yep the TV show) and Red Frogs??? A song about preschool - taking me back to those great days of kiss and catch, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, crayons, that stupid girl who always pinched and pulled my hair, that guy in year 2 who beat me up every single day, being nicknamed 'Chunky' just for being bigboned, crying when I called my teacher 'mum' in front of the whole class. Actually preschool really fucked me up. Still, I really like the song Red Frogs. You may have heard it on FBi - seems to be on high rotation at the moment. Here are a couple of tracks from their EP, Love Needs US.

Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers - Red Frogs
Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers - Trash

More songs available for download from their mySpace site here.

Admittedly, I was so impressed by CBATNW (it's just easier to type - actually now that I wrote that 'easier to type' bit it wasn't easier at all... shut up) that I was thinking at the time that there was no way The Light Brigade were going to top such an impressive set. Well they did, and they were damn good. This band has so many different styles and they play it all so well. It was impressive to see a 4 man band with 4 lead vocals. Equally impressive was the array of instruments on display; a ukulele, a rekeyboarder (ok I made that name up - I have no idea what it is but it's like a keyboard crossed with a recorder), a megaphone and of course, the Sandwich Club favourite, the cowbell just to name a few. They never overdid any of these instruments either - they all deserved their place.
Here are a couple from their EP which is excellent I might add (in fact the night was for the launch of their EP, '(Extended Player)'). I highly recommend getting a copy of this record. I can't get enough. It's been on my stereo all weekend.

Light Brigade - Beyond The Valley of The Dolls
Light Brigade - I Just Write The B-Sides

Their next gig is at The Hopetoun June 1st... Go see them!
Also more songs to listen to on their mySpace site

Also have a listen to this song from Danielson's (no not the karate kid) new album, Ships. Really bouncy, I like. Purchase Ships here.

Danielson - Did I Step On Your Trumpet

And here's a great cover from Aussie artist Sarah Blasko doing Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. This is for Tommy and Em.

Sarah Blasko - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John Cover)

Labels: Cuthbert And The Nightwalkers, Sarah Blasko, The Light Brigade