GIG REVIEW – Cow @ Sound, Liverpool

The planets finally aligned; I was going to see Cow play live and this time no matter how many attempts the Gods would throw my way, this opportunity would not be thwarted. My only fear was, that having seen Kyle play in numerous other bands over the last seventeen years I knew he occasionally had a penchant for fucking it up.

Tonight was definitely not the case… Cow, opening for the touring Blackwaters and local lads, The Merchants strummed the opening chords to a nigh on empty room. Y’see, this was originally billed to be at EBGB’s up the road, and some folk had gone there before realising the switch.
Those opening chords soon made me understand that live, Cow are far more the real deal than they are on their debut release.
‘All My Friends Are Dead To Me EP‘ came out late last year and is a slab of melancholy carved out of a lifetime of disappointment – simply wonderful. Live however, Cow crank it up… It’s indie-blues with a whiff of Americana and sharp drumming… but it’s all about that screaming grunge guitar… and by the mid-way point, this cool basement venue was filling up nicely.

Each song begins subtle, with that soft voice, and remains so beneath that Sabbath tearing guitar… GetIntoThis fanzine knocked a point off for the ‘self-indulgent ending’ – Well, if that’s the case then I’m pointless, as I was not only indulged, I was engrossed… It was an almost religious experience (Holy Cow) – Happy Birthday was a 12 minute beast of beauty that had Kyle kneeling on his guitar making it cry…

Overwhelmingly impressive enough to leave me underwhelmed by what came after them… Maybe the billing was upside down…