A busy Sticky Mikes Frog Bar was full early on in anticipation for what could have been a double headline show. Ultimate Painting are made up of the Mazes’ Jack Cooper and Veronica Falls’ James Hoare, both great bands on their own but this is a match made in heaven. Their sound is music that I have been longing to hear. Tim Presley’s White Fence were the scheduled headline act. I first came across the San Franciscan via his decent split album with garage rocker Ty Segall. Under the White Fence alias, he has released six albums all recorded in his own lo-fi studio, and is now on tour supporting his first proper studio recorded album, For The Recently Found Innocent.    

Ultimate Painting are first on stage, going straight into the epitome of their sound, the eponymous 'Ultimate Painting'. They are confident, and know too well that their mellow undistorted guitars will win over anyone. When I initially came across the band this was the first song I heard, a song I have probably played the most over the past few months. With a sound that is phenomenally loose, along with some floaty guitar interplay – it sounds like it has been in hibernation waiting to be unearthed, and it was fantastic to hear it live. The rest of the set never disappointed, continuing in a similar vain. Songs like ‘Central Park Blues’ introduced their Velvet Underground influences. Guitars that were simple but yet mesmerizing and Lou Reed esque vocals. A very interesting sound that I would love to hear them do more of. ‘Ten Streets’ was the final song they played and a new favourite of mine. Having cleaver lyrics and beautifully intricate guitar playing, it rounded off a great set. After confessing they only had 2 minutes left to play it, the band ended up in a gentle psych-kraut jam that went on and on which a great crowd pleaser. My only gripe, if there has to be one, is that many of the songs were too short and some didn't have endings. I guess this does show how natural their song writing process is, which really, is a positive that comes through in their music.

It soon came apparent that White Fence, or Tim Presley, has quite the cult following in this mostly aged crowd. He has played with a whole host of acts including The Fall, The Strange Boys, Darker My Love and John Dwyer. You can see why his music would strike a chord in the States. White Fence produce British influenced rock. I heard indie, mod, psych, punk, garage and good old rock‘n’roll – all were great, but nowhere near as good as the many British acts that pioneer the sound. On occasions I was on the verge of boredom, anticipating what was going to happen next and being underwhelmed with the result. At times it felt too much like the Tim Presley show. The whole band, who had a great gig, positioning themselves towards him. None other than the amazing Cate Le Bon (her song ‘I Can’t Help You’ being one of my favourite tracks of 2013) was on backing guitar and vocals, but was a wasted talent as she barely featured. An uninspiring performance

A show of two half’s. Ultimate Painting were fantastic, and I would expect them to only get better with their next release. White Fence got a good reaction off the crowd, but I got the feeling the crowd never got to the level they had envisioned. Perhaps if they been on before Ultimate Painting I would have had a more open mind, but in my eyes they were on the losing side.

Iain Lauder

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