Live Review: Hulk / On Trial

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Hulk (B) / On Trial (DK)

02/19/05
Sojo, Leuven

Initially, I was a bit sceptic about Hulk's presence. I'd heard their first full-length, Party Time, and even though it certainly had its moments, its production prevented it from becoming an album with some truly hard-rocking impact, mostly because of a well-behaved sound with the singer's soft and catchy vocals neutralizing the music potential power. I was wrong, and I'm glad I was. Also on stage, the band's sound was a bit reminiscent of Masters of Reality and the Queens of the Stone Age - which implies their music is muscular, but with a certain pop sheen that's always near - but they were also fearfully loud, rockin' twice as hard as most of their colleagues and tight. ULTRA-TIGHT. They kicked off the set with the moderately rockin' "Brain Drain" from their first album, but after that it was an almost constant pedal-to-the-floor-vibe that was dominant. They played two more songs from the debut album (the shuffle "Oh Lord (What Am I Supposed to Do?" and "Intoxicated"), but the other songs were all brand new and even though very few people were familiar with 'em (the album wasn't out yet), it was a nice indication of what the upcoming album Cowboy Coffee and Burned Knives (out since this week), is gonna sound like. The band isn't inventing anything new - in fact, during most of the songs, you could point out the major influences and similar bands (AC/DC, Motörhead, Gluecifer, etc), but that was made up for by the relentless energy and almost ridiculous pace of the set, during which the audience was given no time to recover from each slab of fury. Renaud Mayeur's guitar playing - Wayne Kramer and Angus Young rockin' with Link Wray - was muscular, razor-sharp and intense, while the rhythm section of Mathieu Dumont and Giacomo Panarise provided the rock-solid foundation and occasionally a retro-touch - some songs basically sounded like very heavy rockabilly. It's hard to remember the highlights if you only get to hear the songs once, but personal favorites were the primitive stomp of "Bad Girl, Bad Boy," "Magic" (power + pop), "My Nation" and the damn impressive set closer, "Like Everybody," which is bound to become one of the new album's winners. If Belgium had been Sweden, then maybe Hulk wouldn't have made such an impact, but because of the simple fact we don't have that many worthwhile retro-heavy bands like them around, and also because of their dedicated performance and an amazing sound (they found their live engineer, there's no doubt about that), they almost managed to live up to their name. The fact that Mayeur raised his hand more often than Pierluigi Collina during an average soccer match doesn't change anything - when you deliver the goods, a whole lotta attitude is just fine.

It had been a while since I'd been looking forward to a concert like On Trial's. They were one of my favorite discoveries of 2004 (even though they've been around for years), and when I heard they were flying over for this one gig and intended to rip things up, you can probably imagine my excitement. Their neo-psychedelic approach that touches upon the classic garage sound, delirious guitar trips and occasionally even stoner fuzz perhaps didn't go with Hulk's muscular no nonsense rock 'n' roll on paper, but the band proved they could conjure up a wall of sound that was at least the equal of the Belgian band's. The main difference between them, however, is their instant appeal - or the degree to which they offer this. Whereas Hulk immediately show you their cards, or more appropriately, smash you in the face with their bricks of adrenaline, On Trial takes some time getting used to, certainly because they started off their set with an intricately structured psych jam. You gotta have the right mindset to connect to this kind of music. It's not that it's especially "difficult," but it's different and takes some adjusting. Anyway, it didn't take very long for me to realize that the band was indeed motivated to give their all, as the massive stomp of "Miles Away" turned up the energy a few notches and "Do You See Her" gave the members an opportunity to show off their considerable chops. With an amazing array of effect pedals, guitar players Bjarni and Henrik switched from eerie Eastern-tinged melodies to shredding guitar solos and riffs that pay homage to and build upon the Nuggets-legacy. Throughout the set, the rhythm section of Nik (bass) and Anders (drums, and replacement of Guf, who went to pursue a career with Baby Woodrose), locked down into a formidable, loose groove over which singer Bo could spread his passionately invoking vocals. Even though he may remind you of Michael Stipe or even Gibby Haynes (during his more rational moments), the guy has an entirely personal approach which worked as well as on their records. As the set continued and the band came up with a combination of originals, covers and a few new songs, you constantly were under the impression that they must have had an enormous oeuvre, as many of these songs sounded as if they should be a part of every rock fan's collection. From the swaying "Flashing Ghast" (with some fantastic guitar interaction!), and the drug-fueled psych of "Blood Butterfly" to the surprisingly gentle cover of Roky Erickson's "I Have Always Been Here Before," the intensity never let up and the band continued to become more and more confident. Whereas some people still seemed undecided about the particular style they were offered, the next half of the set would win over most of them with a blasting succession of songs, several of which were covers that also appeared on 2003's Head. Macabre's "Be Forewarned" even topped their (already stunning) studio version with an energy that would make MC5 or the Stooges proud, while Love's "A House Is Not a Motel" even added to the excitement (with a quite spectacular solo at the end). On Trial is a guitar band at its core, and during these moments, when the two guitar players were duelling, churning out crooked lines, swirling notes, squealing feedback and muscular riffs, I realized that they were delivering rock and roll as you get to witness it very seldom. It's music that's follows a basic set of rules but takes it into intuitive directions from there, allowing itself to evolve into directions it perhaps has never pursued before. This spontaneity and spur-of-the-moment-invention of course wasn't kept up for an entire set, but when they did take off in unpredictable directions (songs like "Slippin' and Slidin'" are perfectly suited for that) and even singer Bo joined the audience to witness the whole thing, it was a total thrill. The band finished the set with "Blinded by the Sun" and a hard-rockin' "Parchment Farm," but an encore was a given. The volume was even turned up and the band conjured up an immense wall of sound for a pounding "Long Time Gone," the more wistful "Lovecraft" and "Downer," which undoubtedly will go down as one of their signature songs. The band even returned for a second encore - one new song - but I already knew enough. On Trial are capable of living up to the immensely high expectation that the albums raised and they even topped my hopes with a self-evident dedication that was particularly pleasing. They came, they saw, played their asses off and delivered this year's best gig (OK, it's only February, but still…). Who's up for the challenge?