Wednesday 20/09/06 The Walkmen, Sound Team @ Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh

Sound Team clearly have a sense of humour. “We’re from Austin, Texas, you guys heard of Texas?” one of them drawls laconically early on, with more than a hint of sarcasm. Luckily, the band’s music is no laughing matter, a furious blend of, well, pretty much absolutely everything. Except for Cossack chanting or Irish dancing. There’s the lengthy opener ‘TV Torso’ which sounds like the funk of Talking Heads but given a extended, rather delirious shot in the arm. The 6 piece race around stage, frequently switching instruments as their set goes on.  Elements of prog, rock and rave all come to the fore throughout amongst a host of other elements. 

There’s also the sharp guitar pop of ‘Born To Please’ and the utterly chaotic meltdown that is ‘The Fastest Man Alive’, which lives up to its title, speeding around, switching direction and feeling like the musical version of an out of control car chase.  Meanwhile, ‘Movie Monster’ is a more brooding number that creates a sense of unease as it constructs itself.  Throughout it all, guitarist/vocalist Matt Oliver hops around thrusting his guitar from side to side while Bill Baird is a jerking, staggering livewire of a bassist. Utterly, utterly wonderful.

Emerging after only a brief break between bands The Walkmen have a tough act to follow. The contrast between bands is striking, while Sound Team seemed to have a dry humour permeating their work with the Walkmen there’s raw aggression. Vocalist Hamilton Leithauser is the opposite of the casual style preferred by New York contemporaries like The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. Instead he stands almost military officer straight.

His poise is mirrored in his vocal, a rough, rasping growl. Though the band’s most recent album 'A Hundred Miles Off' features more laid back bluesy numbers Leithauser  still infuses them with real grit. Surprisingly they throw out their most famous number, the vitriolic rumble of ‘The Rat’ three songs in, Leithauser hauling the microphone all over the stage as he spits out the vocals while drummer Matt Barrick  does his best Keith Moon impersonation, flailing wildly. Another older number , ‘Little House Of Savages’ also shines, showing a more melodic touch.

The newer numbers are mainly more subdued, with a variety of exotic percussion instruments used. They don’t always work and they’re not helped by a rather dodgy sound system which sometimes fails to raise Leithauser’s vocal over the band’s sound. Still, both the wild thrash of ‘Tenley Town’ and the brass fuelled ‘Louisiana’ manage to succeed, one thundering by rapidly, the latter providing a more drawn out conclusion to the set.

A brief one song encore follows, a anti-climatic ending that’s due to the venue needing to get ready for its club night. While the Walkmen were enjoyable there’s no doubt the night’s real highlight lay in the Sound Team.