The Underground

Live Review from CD 5 Launch Party B:

Setlist:

1. Ear Poison
2. She’s the Devil
3. Red Light
4. The Miracle
5. Fire in a Sweet Shop

Operator finished up the evening. Confident, disciplined and tight, they could well have been the teachers (yep, older too) of ReOrientate at the International School of Rock. A little over-wrought for my personal taste, but very well executed from start to finish.

One got the feeling that no one was enjoying the performance of the lead singer quite as much as the lead singer. Except perhaps the psycho-fan who was getting down like a thing possessed. A thing with no discernible sense of rhythm, that is. But their last song marshalled the talents of all four band-members best and was far and away song of the night. Again, great drumming anchored a tight performance that easily covered any patchy spots. Amateur bands of the world unite and ditch your amateur drummers!

– Paul Mottram

Live review from Underground 99:

Setlist:

1.    Hurricane
2. Fire in a Sweet Shop
3.    The Miracle
4.    Sandfly
5.    She’s the Devil
6.    Red Light
7.    Ear Poison

operator is a band I’ve had a chance to observe for nearly a year, and they’ve shown tremendous growth within that time – be it the songwriting itself, or the ability to find appropriate instrumental space within those songs, they’ve managed to raise the bar for themselves. They’ve got one of the swingin’-est, kickin’-est drummers I’ve heard, a bassist who could pass for musical bedrock, and two guitarists who exchange leads without missing a beat. All this supplements a voice, which although thin and at times uncomfortably nasal, has genuine range and a slight ironic edge (something like Billie Joe Armstrong’s, but better). It all combines to sound like a solid, well-frankensteined Bush+Small Faces+Foo Fighters, with some King Crimson overtones to boot. This particular night, given the combination of space and the feeling of occasion (they’ve been due to play the Underground for a long time), their performances seemed extra-charged and they were fun to watch too. Adding to the mix was their more recent decision to have bassist Marc occasionally take to a strategically placed floor tom to add to the spectacle and sound (which irresistibly pushed my mind in the direction of that Pete Quaife quote about most bassists being frustrated drummers).

I apologise at this point for taking this review in an utterly subjective direction, but I have to confess that despite their significant merits, their music has somehow always left me somewhat cold. The individual elements are empirically good and on paper I should like them combined too. Perhaps the root of my issues is that, like the Foo Fighters in the early Noughties, the particular way in which they chose to combine Bush with Small Faces serves to neuter the ironic-feeling edgy propulsion and the driving R&B feel of one or the other respectively. Or perhaps, they let their melodies occasionally stagnate to Bon Jovi levels of overblown-ness, like towards the end of Sandfly (admittedly, it may just be that the chorus reminds me of a Kylie Minogue song, from which I cannot recover). It’s all pleasing to the ear, but rather empty. Or even that they always sound on verge of beginning a Butthole Surfers kinda song but never do… One non-subjective issue I have is that they’re not always composing songs meant for a voice that’s strongest on higher notes like singer Ben’s is – when they do (like with Red Light and Ear Poison) his voice flourishes and slots very well, but sometimes it can sound like a square-peg-round-hole situation.

But these are issues for nitpickers like me – if you’re not one, their songs are thoroughly enjoyable, which no less than 5 people actually ordered me to write in my notes (happy?). And it’s true that in their best songs they have a certain free-rockin’ flow that reminds one of Pearl Jam since Matt Cameron. Fire In a Sweet Shop was bounded by a deep, swirling current of a riff which particularly underscored the bass’ vital role in their sound. She’s the Devil had a very Strokes-y lopsided riff to start and sustained that zippy feel right through. Hurricane‘s combination of vocals and guitar tones was haunting, as was that on Red Light; the harmonies added a lot here, and the song had plenty of contrast and tension that bubbled over in the ears. Ear Poison was a great closer, with perhaps their strongest hook, wonderfully understated lead guitars that reminded me of early 70s rock, and an excellent vocal performance; and the Shakespeare reference doesn’t hurt either. If you’re reading this review, don’t let my personal niggles throw you; this is a band that should definitely be checked out live.

– Shashwati Kala

Operator是一隊演出British Alternative Rock的樂隊，成員有Jonathan Lee、Ben Robinson、Vix Peña及Marc Greiner，樂隊是全男子的組合，充滿了陽剛的味道。Operator無論在樂隊的風格或是在組織上都是很typical的搖滾樂隊，他們在台上散發的力量，都令人想起那屬於搖滾樂的原始精神–那種永遠年輕不老、充滿幹勁及熱情的精神。