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24 September 2014

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BurySOUND 2005

Matt Abysmal from The Khe Sanh Approach

BurySOUND 2005: Victory for The Khe Sanh Approach

A crowd of around 300 were at the Corn Exchange in Bury St.Edmunds on 26th November for the grand final. Heat winners Out Patience and Where's Jonny? were on form, but the judges didn't have to think too hard to award victory to the KSA.

After three heats the showcase of the West Suffolk music calendar drew a sizeable crowd that provided plenty of atmosphere throughout the night. On entry one is hit in the nose with teenage odour, but the age range also takes in the band members' older relatives! Battling it out for the title are Out Patience, Where's Jonny? and The Khe Sanh Approach. Each band had to play a cover version in their set of original material.

Out Patience try and get some rock into our lives

Haverhill's Out Patience opened the battle of the bands with a call to arms of "Get Some Rock Into Your Life!". Driving hard rock is the order of the day reminiscent of the power of Motorhead in places, but with dreads rather than warts in the case of Dave Bass. The sound at the Corn Exchange, while excellent, wasn't of a volume to induce aural bleeding however. Their cover was the Tenacious D's Tribute and while they seem to have a sizeable following in Bury, it's a fairly straight ahead rock sound that didn't do enough to win over the judges. Maybe they don't like the fact that all the band members are all called Dave. Except when they're the singer in which case they're more likely to be called Trig.

Where's Jonny?

Where's Jonny? were up next, drenched in film trivia. Singer Trevor (Have You Got A Sister?) Hurley was wearing a Vote For Pedro shirt from cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, while they also sample dialogue from Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. Their's is more of a ska-punk sound. They cite their influences as The Specials and The Police, while their cover version was the RX Bandits' Analogue Boy.

After two fairly conventional guitar and vocals line-ups, The Khe Sanh Approach instantly stand out with their keyboards and drum machine. Singer Matt Abysmal was easily the most visual performer of the evening - repeatedly leaping off the stage to address the crowd atop the crush barrier. He's got a classic English alternative singer look which brings to mind Bowie, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus and Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs. Gawky stage movements contrast with the all-in-black moodiness of guitarists Richard Invincible and Tom Warsaw. Keeping it solid on bass in a Motorhead t-shirt (it's that band again) is Matt Dupuy.

The Khe Sanh Approach

The sound is a swirling maelstrom of feedback at times. Obvious comparisons due to the drum machine are Steve Albini's Big Black and the Sisters Of Mercy, while the band all profess a love of the Jesus & Mary Chain and The Fall. Unfortunately, John Peel isn't around any more to be impressed with such taste. The KSA's cover version was the Beastie Boys' Sabotage with added guitar noise. The Christ Is Right featured the visual spectacular of a young gentleman operating an on-stage flip chart. This helped heap derision at various world leaders and US televangelist. The collection includes the Ayatollah Khomenei, so clearly this band has no fear of a Rushdie-like fatwa. With a name derived from one of the US bases lost in the Vietnam War (and also mentioned in Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA) this band clearly has a political conciousness lurking somewhere amongst the noise.

BurySOUND 2005: Final photos >
LISTEN: The Khe Sanh Approach interview >
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While the judges deliberated, last year's winners The Secret Hairdresser played a set which included one song with a very rude word in the chorus which we're not allowed to put on a BBC website for fear of upsetting certain national newspapers. Much the same as Charlie Brown in the Ipswich local band scene, The Khe Sanh Approach stand out because they don't serve up standard guitar grunge, so it was a fairly easy decision to hand the very attractive wooden shield to them. More importantly they get 500 free CD pressings as part of their prize which is handy because they've just recorded some new material.

The KSA have got the ability and the look, let's hope they don't rest on their laurels in Suffolk, but get gigging in the capital.

last updated: 28/11/05

Have Your Say

Did the judges make the right decision?

Is there an event planned for 2006? Si www.mister-pink.co.uk
Si Pink

no the judges didnt make the right desicion. out patients had the crowd motivated right from the start. WJ? kept them moving with the second set of the night... then i noticed people started to leave the building when KSA played their first song. it was a shame that the sound, although better than in the heats, was very muffled and "muddy" its also a shame that it seems to be the last band on that always wins, to me this shows that the decision has already been made before the night has started. GET SOME ROCK IN YOUR LIVES!
-virus-

No, AVR and FInal Rest were the best bands there, AVR should have won.
Dan

Because they both sounded like the sound of a dieing camel...
Meg

So the KSA won because they're different, yeh they're different but so would be the sound of a dieing camel, bad decision there. Why didn't either metal band get through?!?!?!
Dan

I think the judges made the right decision! i love both of the other band especially where's jonny, i think they are great! but i think sometimes it does take something different to make a winner, you need someone that stands out and you think wow!! that was different so you can remember it!!... deffinatly agree i think the marking system needs to be changed as there is so much controversy over how the judges come to there decisions! well done to all!!
Amy

Well done guys. Now; the world!
Luke Littleboy

Who needs to have a good grasp of what makes a song when you can make lots of noise and shout a lot? The KSA clearly put everything they could into their performance and that came across really, whereas WJ? I thought were really boring.
Meg

I think maybe the wrong decision was made. Yes the Khe Sahn did something different and it was a good performance, but being different doesn't make something good. Without the visuals the Khe Sahn would probably come across as nothing but noise. The reviewer states they don't do 'standard guitar grunge' when in essence that's all it is with added noise and politics. Where's Jonny have good structured songs with a distinct style running through them all and are actually excellent musicians with a good grasp of what makes a song (dynamics, texture etc). From what I hear, it was only down to the 'erratic' marking of one judge which actually swung it Khe Sahn's favour which brings up the validity of the marking system - maybe they need to adopt the Olympic style 'drop the highest and lowest score' and use the average. Just my 2p worth, well done Khe Sahn anyway.
Moog

Yes yes yes the right decision indeed!!!
Dr. Sprtsch

of course they made the right decision! The Khe Sanh Approach are amazing, well done =).
Charly

A good night.. Congrats to The KSA for winning and doing something different. Also I thank them for Including me on the Flip chart of the Christ Is Right thus enhancing my Messiah complex. "the judges didn't have to think too hard to award victory to the KSA." This report seems a little one sided considering WJ? were beaten by .16 of a point out of total of 40.. thats not sour grapes but the only information you seem to have on my band is that we like films..
Trevor (Yes I do have a Sister)Hurley, Where's Jon