The Castle is undoubtedly one of the best underground venues in Manchester and with tonight’s line up it is certain to be packed to capacity.
Opening we have The Goa Express, five young lads from Burnley who have been causing a stir on the Manchester scene for some time now, with ripples finally exuding further afield to gain them the credit they have worked so hard for. Tonight’s set sees a good blend of tacks that the faithful have come to know and love, and new stuff which offers an exciting glimpse of what’s to come. With the swagger of The Rolling Stones, a garage rock rawness that Suicide would be proud to call their own and a blend of Californian coast psychedelia all merging, their sound is weighty and interesting. If you don’t know these lads, you should probably check them out.
Tonight, is somewhat special, as if we didn’t know that already, in that we see the birth of a band. From the ashes of Dusst comes Tamashi Horo. Its not quite what we expected on the line up, but that makes it no less enthralling and rather captivating. The songs channel Eastern influences beautifully and create a harmonic sway which lures the curious crowd closer. The band despite the change evidently have a clear vision of where they are going and what they want to achieve, which can only mean good things for those who want to know more.
San Francisco’s Cool Ghouls have been hotly anticipated ahead of tonight’s show and this is reflected by the almost full venue. For the uninitiated – Cool Ghouls play rock’n’roll. That’s about all there is to it, they tell us they try to do a good job, we think they do. They waste no time getting into things, opening with ‘Just Like Me’ from their latest LP Animal Races a bouncy track with an infectious riff that has people moving instantaneously. The rattle through several tracks from this album in the set including ‘Days’ and towards the end ‘Sundial’ and ‘Spectator’. A song which I’m reliably informed after the show that is taken from their forth coming release has strong political connotations when it talks about too much bull shit being in the world, and that they cannot stand it. It resonates strongly and there are a lot of smiles from the room at its performance.
The strongest songs of the set however come from 2014 album A Swirling Fire Burning Through Rye, namely ‘Orange Light’ and ‘The Mile’. Concluding ‘Witch’s Game’ from the self-titled 2013 album is a great note to finish on with its buoyant countenance and feel good attitude.
Cool Ghouls have showed Manchester exactly what they are all about tonight, and if their stance is anything to go by, there is a lot of bull-shit in the world, no matter where you go.
