November 24 2006
Schooner Tavern, Auckland
Watching the Coolies is like watching TV. You wait up all night for it to start, then with anticipation it does, then slams into an ad break. Your gutted but know you have to see what’s coming next. The ad break makes you nauseous but you persevere and wham! The Coolies launch into the show. They opened with a full set of fresh sounding, unimaginable tunes that makes you realize how special bands like these are. There’s nothing quite like the Coolies, and with the addition of long serving indie muso Stephan, their music has shifted to a whole new, frantic, level.
Erase Errata is a band I’ve been wanting to see for some years. Since forming in 1999, the then four piece had one of the most interesting discordant sounds coming from the US. When Jaffe decided to leave, in 2001, Hoyston took over the guitar, and despite the feared implosion Erase Errata have come out sounding stronger than ever before. The set was a rolling barrage of flat, on the one, heavy drumming, (performed amazingly by Bianca Sparta), topped with erratic, splintered guitar and direct vocals. not to mention the enthusiastic bass of Erickson, which only aided to entice the sizeable crowd more.
The was something satisfying about seeing, one of the most inspiring nights in indie music, while the rest of Auckland (even NZ) was gagging over the dinosaur rock band U2 playing the same night at Mt Smart.
