AXONS

 They always fascinate me these one member bands. Its always something to see a person just be vulnerable like that on stage with no bandmates to share the potential scrutiny of a crowd. Listening later does a set of things. Seeing the live performance and allowing for that to be the first imprint starts a chain of events, small to all but myself. So I saw Axons at Township. I was fortunate to be on time for her whole set. This was who played before the headliner Videotape. It was my first show with Axons. She is local. Her name is Adele Nicholas. The coolness of this show is barely washing over me. I was so concerned with capturing these few images. In between these, I did enjoy the performance. As she set up, Adele heard rude comments coming from some people.  It wasn't just rude, it was some sexist cave man shit, that I found out later from reading a post from her. It broke the fourth wall in this uncomfortable way even before the gig starts. So she let the crowd know and so that prompted everyone to swell closer to her gently and protectively. But that fourth wall, and its comfort, gone.  It would radioactive embarrass me to know this guy who had to say something to her. When Adele was setting up there were not that many people near her. So I can see who it was that just said his toxic, stupid observation. He could not have dressed more the part if he tried. I don't think they stayed much longer.
  Its a different set of braincells you line up to capture than to experience. So having now seen her live, I bought the cassette and downloaded and listened. This is why I hustled over on time for. Its coming back to me now. I saw her play guitar. I saw her assemble her songs. Layering her voice, layering guitar, watching this is a theater. Singular things happen. Oh, and her voice, its beautiful and always clearly heard. So phrases like "One by one you're gonna watch those bastards fall.." come out with full anthemic impact. As Adele tries to layer her voice cleanly to repeat a segment, she accidentally records the fading "yeah" of a fan in the crowd. It totally worked! She can write a dance track in her sleep. The wonder is how unorthodox the end results feel. Can you really telegraph Bastards after Barrel of a Gun They sound like the come from different bands. With Bastards I'm reminded of The Kills, perhaps Sons And Daughters......angry, messy, defiant garage rock. In a flash of one song Axons projects what a band does with its whole identity.  I think she did play this one, and if so she would have to build it, one thing at a time. I wish it was longer than two minutes.
 Gadolinuim is sweet minimal wonder, reminds me of Still Corners. Her voice is slightly higher. There's a charm in the artifice of the drum machine. A live drummer would spoil the intimacy of this sweet shuffle. I don't know if I heard this one but I'm so happy to have heard now as I research the band.
   I'm too focused on each song to see what the other has coming and so when they hit, its hard. So I don't know what Bastards has coming because Gun has me in that moment. Gun sounds just right for a dance floor. This is worlds away from the next track. And this is the effort, performance, creation of a single mind sounding like many. In one show you begin to see the depth and breath of her music, her vast range. Each track sounds almost from a different band.....hmmm how do I say it. Its not to say "this track sounds like this band....or that band", no. Each track suggests the faint signature of its own band. Not so deliberately as Prince Rama, but indeed that is the effect to me.
Zig