POM POKO + SHTËPI – THE BOILEROOM, GUILDFORD 1.2.22
Pom Poko formed in 2017 and are a very different proposition to your normal band, and are the polar opposite of the Japanese anime film that inspired their name. The quartet consists of Ragnhild Fangel, Martin Tonne, Jonas Krøvel and Ola Djupvik and they offer the listener pure Norwegian punky sweetness, combined with a punk attitude with a nerdy knowledge of pop history.
I’d seen Pom Poko three times, and I thought that it was high time that I reviewed them. This time around the Norwegian quartet have come over to the UK to perform six concerts as part of the ‘Independent Venue Week’. Last night they opened up the tour in Cardiff and this evening they had come across to 13 Stoke Fields, Guildford, GU1 4LS to thrill the punters at The Boileroom, before heading off to Norwich, Bedford, Margate and Portsmouth.
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team covered their Brighton concert last year at CHALK – Read our review HERE.
First up this evening are Shtëpi who are a local band consisting of students from Surrey University, who have stepped in to replace the previously booked support band who couldn’t play after one of them tested positive for Covid.
Shtëpi display indie influences with plenty of light and shade, but there is more to them than that. It becomes clear that this is no ordinary band when the keyboard player starts screaming into a mic’d up old 1970s Trimphone. The vocalist then sings into the same instrument. Everything that comes through it is as distorted as I don’t know what, probably because the mouthpiece mic in the phone won’t be of performance quality – to say the least! This doesn’t in any way detract from the music incidentally. Rather it gives it a rather anarchic edge. A theramin is also employed. This is art rock with elements of post-punk and psych. Shtëpi are an interesting band who are well worth checking out.
If Shtëpi are difficult to classify, this also applies to Pom Poko. They clearly have influences that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to sit comfortably together, but the band make them co-exist. Whereas debut album ‘Birthday’ was wilfully angular and experimental sounding, current album ‘Cheater’ is more accessible. This is amply demonstrated by the opening track ‘My Candidacy’, which immediately gets the crowd moshing. I am at the front against the barrier, and after an hour or so of bodies crashing into me I feel as if I’ve been playing rugby!!! This is not something that I’ve seen at a Pom Poko gig before, and is hopefully an indicator that audiences are now far more familiar with their music.
One thing about Pom Poko that stands out a mile is their musicianship. All three instrumentalists are virtuosic. The guitar playing on the title song of ‘Cheater’ is particularly impressive. Vocalist Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit is also excellent. She is let loose on a cow bell for ‘Follow The Lights’, and her vocals throughout are superb. She can’t keep the grin off her face when she dances during the instrumental sections. This band definitely enjoys what they do.
The set tonight is broadly split between Pom Poko’s two albums, with six songs from ‘Birthday’ and seven from ‘Cheater’. In addition there is also a cover of ‘Sonatina’ by Johann Sebastian Bach. Their arrangement of this piece gives it a distinctively 1960s feel. There is also a new song, ‘Time’, which is apparently destined for an EP. It has a wonderful cascading guitar intro.
Set closer ‘If U Want Me To Stay’ has psychedelic ‘freak out’ sections mid-song and again at the end. In many ways this encapsulates the character of the band. For all their identifiable influences – indie, post-punk, psych, jazz, classical, you still feel that their music could at any moment fly off in a completely unexpected new direction. Long may they remain unpredictable.
Pom Poko are:
Ragnhild Fangel – lead vocals
Martin Tonne – guitar
Jonas Krøvel – bass
Ola Djupvik – drums
Pom Poko setlist:
‘My Candidacy’
‘Leg Day’
‘Cheater’
‘My Blood’
‘Look’
‘Danger Baby’
‘Like A Lady’
‘Curly Romance’
‘Day Tripper’
‘Follow The Lights’
‘Time’
‘Sonatina’ (Johann Sebastian Bach cover)
‘Birthday’
‘Crazy Energy Night’
‘Andy Go To School’
‘If U Want Me 2 Stay’
Pom Poko are signed to Brighton’s very own Bella Union records. Check out their material HERE.
For more information on Pom Poko, visit www.pompoko.no
