Thursday 01/12/05 65 Days of Static, The Mirimar Disaster, The Hellset Orchestra @ The Boardwalk, Sheffield

With an air of shambolic chaos The Hellset Orchestra crowd the stage. Their ramshackle collection of strings, brass surrounding a battered Hammond organ adds to their Steptoe and Son appearance. Like an Addams family episode on acid they slowly spiral out of control shouting “we’re here to save the earth”. As the saxophone screams like a strangled cat the singer dances round like an escapee from an asylum pointing his sergeant major stick accusingly at the crowd. With debut single ‘Monstrous Boards’ and the catchier hook-filled ‘Kick Ass Judas’ they have more than a touch of the macabre. Ending on a vitriolic note that sounds like the Coral’s ‘Skeleton Key’ merged with a Cossack marching song they dedicate the last “30 seconds to a minute to each and every one of you” then seem to disappear through the stage in a cloud of smoke, truly bizarre.

Under a hail of distortion, The Mirimar Disaster burst straight into the heavy stuff. The singer swings from the rafters baying for blood with the immense power riffs of ‘Persius’ going straight for the jugular. Slowing the pace down slightly on the Deftonesque ‘Ten Fifty’ they veer off again guitarist, Dean and bass player Nicky bounce against each other in a mass of hair and strings while singer, Stocky jumps around like an electrocuted dog with tourettes. The overwhelming urge to rock out starts to take over the crowd with heads bobbing and a few people start singing along as ‘Scenario’ kicks in. The singers vocal chords sound like they’re being severed by a buzz-saw as the riffs bowl the crowd over like an out of control juggernaut. ‘If Lockheed’s Could Speak’ begins with a slower leaning back shuffle, then out of nowhere a scream rips through the air, the echoes spiralling throughout the room. The band look like they’ve just done run a marathon, exhausted, but happy.  As the last note dies out people stand shocked that it’s all over so quick. Bring on round two!

65 Days of Static make their entrance, relentless piano chords of ‘Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here’ building the crashing headlong into frenetic synths. The swooping pianos of ‘Aren’t We All Running’ collide into drums that destroy everything in their path as 65 Days sway like they’re controlled by unseen strings. The crowd standing open mouthed as these four unassuming figures weave their magic over them. Creating sublime, pounding beats ‘Await Rescue’s slick drum and bass slides in with yearning chords circling overhead. Robb pounds the drums so hard they might disappear through the floor, only to be buried under a flurry of guitar explosions. Playing to their home crowd the band seem to be enjoying themselves as they take it to the next level with the whip cracking synths of ‘Arabic’. The disjointed guitars of ‘Mean Low Water’ float around the singer disappears into a trance, throwing off his guitar and letting himself go. Moving into darker, more intense territory the instruments seem to be locked in deadly battle for supremacy, ’65 Doesn’t Understand You’ sounds like Four Tet’s ‘A Joy’ mixed over heavy Roni Size beats. The pianos of ‘This Cat Is A Landmine’ seem almost too gentle as singer Paul starts to twitch like he’s being administered electric shocks, looping samples give the feeling that something’s about to explode.

They wrestle their guitars to the floor as they power through ‘I Swallowed Hard Like I Understood’ into Zane Lowe favourite ‘Retreat Retreat’ sound leaps around, never sticking in one place. China doll keyboards mix in with guitars like bees escaping from a hive. If this was the only music on the planet, it would never be dull. ‘Radio Protector’ builds up the crescendo as gentle pianos struggle to keep pace sounding magnificent even under the mangled mess of noise dive-bombing it from all angles.

For the encore they lose none of their urgency returning to their roots with ‘aod’ from the stumble.stop.repeat e.p. These four Sheffield lads seem bound for greatness as the looping computer sample declares “This band is unstoppable”.