December 10^th was another “University Night” at D-22, when the club management gives new student bands the opportunity for an ol’ college try at live performing. The line-up: Mr. Graceless, Summer Story, Jason Come, The Dance of the Noisy Rubik’s Cube (跳舞的噪音魔方) and My September. I actually came to this show specifically to see Mr. Graceless again, who had wowed me at their show at MAO Livehouse a few days previous. I got to that show late and only caught the last half of their act but it was so impressive that I met them and asked when their next show was so that I could see them in full and interview them.

This time I got there early. The band and their entourage (producer and manager) recognized me and fell over each other trying to shake my hand. I made it clear that whatever I write would *only* be going on the website and not printed in the magazine, but they were excited nonetheless. They’ve only been together two months.

Mr. Graceless was supposed to go second but they were switched to go first at the last minute. They’d improved a lot since just a few days before at MAO. They must have practiced quite a bit in preparation for this show. At MAO, they were adorably neophytic; the drummer (Guan Liao) was noticeably stressed as he struggled to keep time, the guitarist (Amojo) fudged a few notes here and there and the bassist (Yuan Shuai) hesitated to sing sometimes in fear of rushing his cue. Tonight they still had these endearing qualities that attracted me to them in the first place, but they were tighter, more together. Still, it is their raw earnestness and obvious passion for music (in addition to their catchy and inventive songwriting) that I think puts them a cut above their rest.

Their first song sounded straight out of John Lennon’s songbook, in fact, it may have been a cover and I need to give another listen to my Beatles’ records. Their second song, Throw The Block, can be heard on their myspace page and is one of the few songs that has a heavy and distorted break from the simply layered dreamy pop richness that defines most of their music. The next song was My Channel, a pleasant and driving song, also on their myspace. The second half of their show went in a different direction than the delicate yet stirring music that I was familiar with. They utilized some interesting guitar flanger effects and the bassist was playing some kind of strange off-key discordant bass line. They ended their short but sweet performance with a song directed by a two-note major progression bass line along with a beguiling “doo doo doo” sung during the chorus.

The next band was Summer Story and, yes, they sounded exactly as you would expect from their name: going-to-the-high-school-football-game rock. The band looked groomed for MTV. They started off the set with a bang as the guitarist flung his guitar spinning around his neck. It was pretty cool I must say, but it seemed a bit out of place considering that it was a Wednesday night and there were only about ten people there including me and the bartender. After that the singer gave him a look that seemed to say, “we discussed this before and I said ‘no’”.

The performance was very energetic, complete with the two guitarists jumping up at songs’ climaxes in synchrony. The bass player plucked away while carefully keeping his gelled hair in place. And the singer oscillated between yelling and screaming.

Overall this band seemed to be more about style than substance, evidenced in some gaffes on the drummer’s part especially and some really unoriginal songwriting. If you turned on an alt-rock radio station at random in 2003 it would sound like Summer Story.

The next band, Jason Come, wasn’t much better or different than the previous band but at least they weren’t as pretentious and showy. Their overall sound, and by sound I mean the actual quality of their timbre, was very hollow and lacked punch. I’m not sure if this was the band’s equipment or the fault of the sound guy. The vocalist was suitable for the band. His voice had that itchy pre-pubescent quality that is so necessary for this kind of music. I particularly liked the drummer. He was frantic, skilled and made drumming look easy. They were definitely more original than Summer Story. One song was only ten seconds long. Another utilized a lot of cool and unexpected stops followed by explosions of sound. At least they put a new twist on the tired tradition of pop-punk music.

I knew at first sight that The Dance of the Noisy Rubik’s Cube would be interesting (as if the name alone didn’t tell me that). The female vocalist took the stage, decked out in a Scottish kilt, red stockings laced up in Xs with black lace and incredibly gaudy pleather pink boots.

After a song or two I had them pegged as an Evanescence rip-off, but they soon surprised me. They were very creative and out of the ordinary. I really found this band’s sound to be mature, noisy and probing. I liked how hard driving they sounded without being too over-the-top “heavy” and I also liked how the female vocalist didn’t seem to be completely into herself like so many others in her position. Hell, she even seemed a bit shy. But then again, how can she be shy when she wails so intensely?

I suspect that the last band, My September, was not a student band. They were too good. The 1^st song started off the show with a pulsating and droning bassline, with Thom Yorke style crooning. The next song featured a beautiful guitar soundscape that almost sounded like a guzheng from the way he was bending the notes. The guitarist was truly amazing, having mastered the art of making strange and gorgeous sounds from his guitar. I would compare him to the Edge, or the guitarist from Bush. The band was very skilled, utilizing fake stops, gradual tempo changes and other musical tricks and artistry. One particularly impressive song was one with a riff that sounded like Wire’s “Three Girl Rhumba” but took it in an odd and unexpected direction. The show’s closer was a fascinatingly drawn-out jam, reminiscent of the psychedelic 60s. Power riffs chugged away with some prog elements thrown in, the guitarist and bassist howling like starving wolves, the guitarist tearing his guitar to pieces while the rhythm section pounded out a death march beat.

All around interesting if not awesome stuff. Go to D-22’s University night if you want to get “schooled” the newest Beijing bands.

See theBeijinger's interview with Mr. Graceless here. 

Photos by Xue Hai Feng/ 薛海峰