Buffalo Bar is the venue as Cardiff welcomes New York’s Uniform for a second time on a particularly miserable May evening in the Welsh Capital. At this point locals are genuinely starting to question whether the winter will ever end…
Tonight, we have a superbly balanced / mixed bill (from Swine Language Records / Ross Jones) with support coming from Thighpaulsandra (formerly of Spiritualized / COIL) who delivers a chilling and bedazzling 45-minute set of mind-bending, and at times genuinely unnerving experimental sound. All inside the criminally underattended venue are totally enamoured by the performance of a multi-instrumentalist who has truly mastered his craft. Thighpaulsandra’s latest record ‘The Golden Communion’ is well worth your time.
Uniform are on blistering form as they stalk the stage and begin a claustrophobically intense set of skull-crushing noise that barely lets up at all for the entire duration of their performance. Vocalist Michael Berdan is genuinely intimidating as he glares at the audience before Benjamin Greenberg’s chainsaw-like guitar threatens to bring the walls down around those in attendance. The set draws mainly from last year’s stunning and critically acclaimed second LP ‘Wake In Fright’ (Sacred Bones) and sees Berdan gnash with convulsing savagery and ensures Uniform’s punishing sound is felt in the chest of everyone in the room.
This is cathartic music. Music that attacks the mind and the body and is utterly relentless is its execution and delivery. It is a mix of industrial, thrash, noise and electronics and the audience can’t get enough. “This record is primarily about psychic transition” explains Berdan and if that is the case, it is clear it is more than achieving its desired effect as Uniform continue to travel the globe developing a dedicated group of devoted followers. One city at a time.
