Charles Dexter Ward and the Imagineers present Pyschzealand
Charles Dexter Ward and the Imagineers – Moses – Duck Duck Goose
The Tin Music and Arts – Coventry
7th April 2017
A night of psychedelia led by the one and only Charles Dexter Ward and the Imagineers, Fighting Boredom favourites? A bunch of bands from New Zealand joining them? It’s a no brainer for Fighting Boredom as we head to the Tin to freak out.
You know when a night is going to descend into madness when you start the night trailing across Coventry because the photographer has forgotten his phone and won’t borrow his Dad’s ‘Shit Pensioner One’. Guerrilla parking in a private street next to the venue and messaging the guy whose space we borrowed to tell him we are ‘visiting’. At this point I could already feel the bats coming in and we hadn’t hit the bar yet.
The band times are up but no bands had materialised, the first band hadn’t shown which I find a little odd. Why come all the way from New Zealand and then not play? So Charles Dexter Ward’s frontman is laying down some heavy psychedelia on the decks instead. Eventually someone takes the stage and gives an explanation of what’s going on. I can’t hear him as I am half deaf and he’s mumbling into a microphone, we find out later that he’s a member of Moses the third band on the bill, stepped in to fill the gap. He starts with a Mazzy Star track which is never a bad thing. He plays a few tunes: all nice enough with minimal guitar so you concentrate on his voice, he’s okay, he does have a full rounded sound but it’s not psychedelic and it’s not the band we expected.
By this point the place is getting fuller, the music being played is getting louder and Duck Duck Goose take the stage. They are a duo, drums and guitar, but they suffer with technical difficulties for the first five minutes or so of the set, cables are exchanged and they start again. It’s a nice fuzzy sixties groove, very loud and not sounding too retro. The vocal reminds the photographer of a young Placebo but I’m not convinced, they get more shouty and the sound hardens as the set goes on. People are in the room and dancing now and the band feed on that. When they kick in properly there is an utter psychedelic punk garage groove but they take so long building up to it that they lose me.
Moses are on next and they are a full band, young and laid back they have a slow burning groove that goes from a twangy sixties surf vibe to a western soundtrack groove that takes you to a wide open space with an empty sun filled blue sky. They tell us that they’ve come as far as they possibly could to get here to play and they make the most of it. They get more psychedelic and are good enough. Although I am finding that this is a classic example of the support being overshadowed by the main band. They finish off with a classic sixties Elekra records feel with their best song of the evening.
Charles Dexter Ward and the Imagineers are on bandcamp and also Facebook.
Moses are also on Bandcamp and Facebook.
All words by Adrian Bloxham.
All pictures by Martin Ward.