Somerset Sounds - Reviews

MMS played the closing slot and despite only having around 20 people watching, they gave an energetic and tight performance, demonstrating a talent that any A&R person would be foolish to ignore. A right motley bunch and not a load of emo-swept pretty boys by any stretch of the imagination, singer Ian Williams displays the dance skills and looks of Joe Cocker (in fact – could he be a grandson of the gravel-voiced ex-plumber?).

And the music? – very appealing also… insistent, tight, unpredictable with lots of very catchy hooks and anthemic dancefloor fillers. And I mean cup of tea anthems as opposed to lager anthems; indie pop that’s like the Fratellis and Kaiser Chiefs, quirkily bouncing along and then breaking into beefy reggae interludes.

You’re kept on your toes in more ways than one. The band say they were influenced by Half Man Half Biscuit, The Smiths and The Libertines - and they certainly produce the same type of quirkily English pop with ironic, sometimes deadpan, often witty lyrics. They were the ideal choice to support British Sea Power recently at the Orange Box, Yeovil.

The band (Ian Williams, Adam Winter, Jay Atkins and Alex Gullis) met while doing a BND Music Technology course at Yeovil College last year. Ian Williams (lead guitar, vocals) said "Although we come from different musical backgrounds, we share a love of charity shop clothes, a good cup of tea and cheesy pop – so we started to write catchy, quirky and fun indie pop songs."

Ian and Jay began writing as a two piece shortly into the college year, using Cubase to fill in the gaps in a project which sounded like local heroes Encyclopaedia. This is the period when MMS’s moshpit incendiary songs like 'Say You Will' were born. 

Later in the year, as groups were disbanded and new partnerships formed, they left their two guitars and a computer setup behind when Alex and Adam decided they wanted to play something other than metal – thus was born Disco Machine Gun. They started writing feverishly for the Yeovil College St Valentine's gig and the band was completed by a trip to the local charity shops a few days beforehand where everyone picked up a costume, a hat and some flowers.

After a successful first show they changed their name to Melancholy Moose Society and have continued to win new fans with their beautiful music, beards, hair, charm and charisma.

The band are supporting Jack Harrison on a tour of universities across the south of England, as well as playing in various venues across Somerset and Dorset in November and December.