le tigre review

Le Bateau 12-00
Often, lobbing extra instruments on stage is a kind of musical surrender – "we’re out of ideas, but look how many things we can make a noise with" – but it’s not so with Ambulance. Indeed, if this detuned Stereolab-cum-backalley Spiritualized have a fault, it’s that their virtuosity sometimes overwhelms their inventiveness, as the cramming in of nois-making stick things and extra whee-waahing items overwhelms the fine textures that hold you when they calm things down a bit. Make up your own Charlie Fairhead gag here.

One part Snuff, one part Perfect Disaster, one part Polly Harvey and one part The Ronettes – oh, and a massive swig of brandy, the Flamingo Fifty have come to "fuck your ass." And they’re more than welcome to, as well. Nothing less than a call to start ripping up Rope Walk’s faux-cobbles and heft them violently into the smug, self-schmucktating, cynical scouse scene’s face. Forever. How often can local music reviews honestly use words like "vital", "confrontational", "indispensible" – or even "woman", come to that?

Obviously, its expecting a lot of a punk band – even one led by the wonderful Kathleen Hanna, ex-of Bikini Kill, to advance much beyond broad gesture to manifesto fine print, but somehow there’s something disappointing about Le Tigre's failings this evening. The music is faultless – Riot Grrl with vowels, if you like – but since each perfect two minute rant comes preceded by a five minute lecture, it makes more sense to review the stance, not the sounds. And from a societal crit point of view, Le Tigre are found wanting. At one point, Hanna even tells the adoring throng that "feeling things is a political action", which gets a round of applause rather than the "what?" it clearly deserves – since when was sucking teeth and shaking heads political activity? It’s a reaction, not an action. Like much of the current DIY politics scene – No Logo and the Prague riots spring to mind – Le Tigre’s politics are based on pointing out what’s wrong rather than proposing a solution, tapping into disatisfaction but offering no release for the discontent. Another song is explicated as whinge about "women ripping each other down on the Internet", but again this is no call to arms for a 21st century take on feminism – its just a "tut tut." LeTigre have the energy, but no will to energise. And bearing grudges is not enough on days like these.