London drone-rockers Ulrika Spacek make a hell of a racket, like their forbears and evident heroes Sonic Youth and Television; their music rattles with guitars that graze the skin, murmuring, distant vocals coated in fuzz, and echoey, Steve-Albini drums that provide a steady march underneath all the chaos. Their celebratory new album ‘Modern English Decoration’ has a weather-beaten aesthetic to it, a stormy wash of broken branches and mud like quicksand; undeniably British in its psychedelia, but there’s touches of chugging krautrock too, and the backwater boredom of the great US art-rock bands. It’s a great recipe, in short, and impressively, enchantingly unfashionable. The DIY spirit is out in full, which should mean they feel right at home in the bosom of Brum.
Wed 15 Nov, 7.30pm at Sunflower Lounge, 76 Smallbrook Queensway, Birmingham B5 4EG. £9.90. seetickets.com
Words: Chris Donald - Gigs Editor
Published on: Sat 7 Oct 2017