The Housekeeping Society - Gig Review

Like most people, nothing makes me angrier than the success and happiness of others. The better other people's lives and achievements, the worse mine must, therefore, be by comparison. It brings me great displeasure, therefore, to report that my friend Ric Neale's new band - The Housekeeping Society - is not the horrible embarrassing failure I was hoping it would be and is, in fact, very good.

Bastard. And he's lost weight.

Anyway, I've said it's Ric's band and that's already a lie, so bang goes my career in music journalism. The band is, in fact, a collaboration between three annoyingly good musicians, all of whom seem fairly crucial to the writing of the music and thus probably won't arbitrarily sack one another over who gets the best seat on stage (Ric).

There's a big tall guy called Spence, who looms over Ric like the tiny pianist he is. Spence plays bass and acoustic guitar and takes the lead vocal on the rare occasion that Ric pauses for breath. He's a very nice guy and the first time I met him he was wearing a hat styled after a pineapple. His voice is gorgeous and delicate, reminiscent of whoever that guy is who sings for Grandaddy. Spence, Ric and I went to see Aha last year in Sheffield. It was good, and I liked 'Stay on these Roads' best.

Is this the kind of detail I should include here? I honestly don't know. I've never reviewed a gig before. Maybe I should describe the music. But how?

Oh - wait - first, there's another person in the band. I don't know him as well as I know the others, because he's never worn a fruit on his head (at least not in front of me) and he didn't go to see Aha. See, that - to me, is a schism in the band already. Or maybe he doesn't like Aha. Anyway, this third guy is called Ivan Mack which, in my opinion, is the best name in the band. He had jingly things on his legs and sat on a box which is in fact a special kind of drum. It might be called a Kujon. Or that might be the guy from The Usual Suspects. I'm not sure. He also played some other stuff, including a xylophone kind of thing, and maybe a little guitar. I couldn't really see him that well, if I'm honest, because there was someone sitting in front of me and, as I've already mentioned, the most visible bit of the stage was already occupied by Ric 'Look at me' Neale. Ivan had to sit on the edge of the stage, looking - to my mind - a bit under-appreciated.

So that's them. Apart from I've not really described Ric, but the chances are I don't need to. He's probably already been round your house, singing beautifully outside your window and enchanting your evening with his excellent bloody voice. He probably saved your cat from a tree, bantering wittily all the while, with his full head of hair and his flat stomach.

Sigh.

"Laaa. We love sluice gates. Laaa."

Anyway. The gig was at the Adelphi Hotel in Leeds, which isn't a hotel so there's another lie. It is, however, a really nice pub with good beer, comfy sofas and a number of interesting rooms woven into its labyrinthine structure. The top room is perfect for live music, being intimate enough to engage with the performance but spacious enough for a decent crowd.

The crowd in question was there to witness the launch of 'This Way to Power', a concept album about life in 1885. Now, all I know about 1885 is that it's the year Marty McFly travelled to in Back to the Future Part III, so I was clearly expecting a lot of songs about horses, hoverboards and manure. None of these subjects were forthcoming. What we did get was a set of startling and complex songs about invention, hope, yearning for change and falling in love with inanimate objects. At least, I think that's what they were about. There was definitely one about a wheel.

Doc Brown: not on this album.

Either way, this was captivating stuff. Patterns of rhythm shifted and moved in eccentric and outlandish ways, the centre of each song bouncing back and forth between the band members without ever leaving the listener behind. The melodies were strong, if occasionally bizarre, and the harmonies made me a) prickle with joy and b) seethe with furious jealousy. Best of all, for a prog-rock sucker like me, there were some fascinating dynamics at work, creating a textured and varied experience that gave each song its own identity while creating something that felt beautifully consistent.

Anyway, like I said, who can write about music? None of that tells you what The Housekeeping Society sounds like, really. You should probably go and have a listen. Yes, you'll probably hate them for producing something so clever, fun and suffused with humanity and warmth. But you could take some small pleasure in the fact that it took them bloody ages and they had to work really hard, while you were probably relaxing and watching Deep Space Nine. And anyway, their next album is bound to be worse, isn't it?

Go here to find out more, if you must.

The Housekeeping Society.