Offset Festival // Mixtape

Offset Festival has a line-up so brimming with creative juice, the fact that tickets for the two days are still available begs the obvious question: what the hell is wrong with people?

At just 30 minutes to Hainault from central London on the sweaty cylinder more commonly known as the Central line, the locals have no excuse. A selection of the finest young musical minds (and Tim Burgess) will be proving why they could be ‘the next big thing’, so while the journey may be somewhat longer for some (or shorter, depending where you start from), entertainment is inevitable. Plus you can try Garam Guru’s revitalising Sexy Breakfast. What more could you ask for?

Here are some examples of the brilliance coming to East London.

Male Bonding

For stand-out Offset bands you can’t look beyond Male Bonding, not only because there are 13 shoe-gazing grunge-punk reasons on their Sub Pop debut Nothing Hurts, but because the vibrancy and discordant thrill their live show offers is un-matchable. Seeing them at The Basement a few months back felt like nirvana. Or Nirvana. Choosing an example track to emphasise the point was tough, but No Action chose to look beyond the inevitable Franklin or Years Not Long to hidden gem Nothing Used To Hurt, mainly for the life-affirming drop at 1.06.

09 Nothing Used To Hurt by subpop

Egyptian Hip Hop

Being hyped at the start of the year as one of the BBC’s ‘Ones to Watch’ can be a burden to heavy to bear for some. One fears that Ellie Goulding may buckle within the intense media whirlwind at any moment. Egyptian Hip Hop have remained firmly under the radar but have set about crafting a fine selection of soulful tropicalia, not least on Heavenly. If the sun shines on the Saturday, Egyptian Hip Hop will definitely become your new favourite band.

Egyptian Hip Hop - Heavenly by Pure Groove

Colours

London four-some Colours produce songs draped with claustrophobic reverb yet filled with vibrant melody, making for a thrilling sonic experience. While their song-naming can only be described as satisfactory (Lost Youth, The Lost Hour, Losers), there's much to love in their powerful three minute thrash. Having shared vinyl space with fellow Offset attendees Not Cool, Colours will definitely provide a Saturday treat.

Colours - Lost Youth by Brattwell Recordings

Fiction

Much is being said and written and loved about London’s Fiction, so let’s add to that here at No Action. The foursome conjure an addictive, restless sound, with touchstones in post-punk and new wave but without dwelling on any genre for long before it’s on to the next. Having recently released Devo-esque single Curiosity, the first ever release on Offset Recordings, the band will no doubt be seeking to impress their erstwhile employees, as well as the rest of the ECC Stage spectators on the Sunday.

Fiction - Curiosity by Worthknowingpleasures

Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

Choosing a fifth and final example of why you MUST attend Offset Festival was a tricky business. It could have been Caribou’s psychedelic aural blessings, Mystery Jets’ increasingly powerful power pop, or Bo Ningen’s bombastic, 70’s rock revivalism. Instead, I can’t look beyond Brighton’s own 80’s Matchbox. Partly brought on by seeing Guy lately in the town’s unmatchable thrift / antique store Snoopers Paradise and seeing the grey streak of maturity through his otherwise raven locks, but mostly because, despite the hampered quality of their more recent output, their first two records remain throbbing, gothic treats while their live show offers the most self-destructive, gum-chewing, eye-popping spectacle No Action has ever witnessed. So for the very reason that every show may be their last, you must see 80’s Matchbox.

Harlem :: Spectrals // Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

Harlem and Spectrals, two bands that have been immovable on the No Action playlist for months now, on the same bill? You read our mind Hoxton Bar & Kitchen.

Before the fun starts, however, The Lucid Dream made the long trip from Carlisle trudged through the sort of psychedelia that thankfully is not present in recent 90s revivalism. And on this basis it's not likely to be.

Spectrals' set, despite the impassive looks etched across his and his band's faces induced by the sweltering heat, is immaculate from the start. Harnessing the combined charms of Mersey-beat and baroque pop, Spectrals comes over like The Last Shadow Puppets with a lo-fi ethic. The delicate Birthday Kiss gets the room swaying before superb early single Leave Me Be adds some Californian surf to the mix. Throwing in a Milkshakes cover for some teeth-grindingly ragged garage-blues only makes us love him more, while a forthcoming Reading/Leeds slot and supports for Les Savy Fav, Wavves and Here We Go Magic look set to place Spectrals firmly on the radar.

What better way to back up Spectrals than with some balls-out Texan garage? While their tour manager lines up the drinks (whiskys, lagers, strictly no waters) for them to knock down, the band instruct the crowd to "dance around like retards" and crash through Beautiful and Very Smart before Friendly Ghost's opening refrain "I live in a graveyard!" stuns the room into life. The sound is much heavier than comes across on Hippies, particularly prior to the vocalist/drummer switch, with Faces causing the queued up couples front of stage no end of trouble from the burgeoning mosh pit behind. Post switch, South of France and recent single Gay Human Bones get the best reception. While there's no end of garage bands about, Harlem's melodic riffs and boozy drawl set them apart. Check them out below.

Local favourites // Not Cool

Tom Bingham is the man responsible for the excellent and confusingly sinister superhero above, soon to adorn the front cover of London three-piece Not Cool's debut 12". At eight songs, is it an EP or is it an LP? Perhaps it should be an MP? However it's pitched, Not Cool are destined to win a score of fans with its release, melding lo-fi garage with a wilful disregard for convention, making them a massive No Action favourite.

Rugged Raw is out in September on Sleep All Day Records. In the meantime, here's an example or what's in store.

Still Corners // Wish

Having missed Still Corners due to their unreasonably early slot at 1234, No Action is determined to catch them at their upcoming series of London dates, which kicked off tonight at the Old Blue Last. The band will be launching their latest 7" at Stoke Newington's The Drop on August 20th, which will feature the hazy beauty of Wish, pitching them firmly as our answer to jj. Listen and watch its sun-bleached phantasy below.

Wish from Still Corners on Vimeo.