KOWLOON COWBOY + DUBAIS – THE HOPE & RUIN (BAR), BRIGHTON 25.5.23
Well, this year’s Great Escape has come to a close with many concert-goers leaving on various highs from all over Brighton’s many beloved venue hubs. Despite the finite feeling that remains in place post-Great Escape, the number of underground bands coming up for public air continues to grow. While Nil By Habit hosted in the upstairs main room of The Hope and Ruin, downstairs played host to a stellar sound of underground indie that doesn’t often get much notice. Kowloon Cowboy is the brainchild of Hong Kong-originated James Li, a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter known for various projects in his illustrious profile, whether it be through the ambient-oriented Ministry of Interior Spaces or the indie rock gem Liance. With this current project, James trades the fragility of his previous outfits into something that is both enigmatic and powerful in scope despite only having five current singles under this name.
Downstairs at The Hope and Ruin has played host to the underground indie culture, with Thursday’s crowd standing to attention as the support act took the stage (or corner of the room in this case as it’s downstairs…!). Preluding Kowloon Cowboy was the enigmatic Nadia Buyse as Dubais. Self-described as a transmedia artist melding various pop and DIY processes, Nadia presented herself to the eager audience in a fabulous black-and-white shirt, standing alone, with only a backing track on her phone for musical company. She opened with a cover of Keith Sweat’s 1996 song ‘Nobody’… an odd choice, but an extremely powerful one with Nadia’s powerful voice standing tall on these beds of synths coming from the speakers. The black-and-white shirt was eventually paired with matching sunglasses as the following ‘Pier Pressure’ commenced, with drum machines now making appearances on the backing track, resembling an early LCD Soundsystem (a comparison worth remembering for later in the show…!).
The third song, ‘Low Tide’, contained a more chiptune feel on the drum and synth passages here (Nadia herself regarded this track as, and I quote “sexy mini muzak!”). Nadia’s vocal delivery here switched to something not too far off of Blondie’s ‘Rapture’, while her dancing, which coincidentally happened both on and off-stage, remained a prominent feature of her set. An abrupt ending led us into the next cut, ‘A Bad Situation’, which took a more mellow approach with the synth patterns, however Nadia herself remained just as extravagant as how she started. The vintage drum machine, synth and vocal arrangements on this backing track evoked memories of various eras of indie and electronic music; case and point, ‘Every Party I Never Went To’, which reminded one of mid-2000s indietronica act Casiotone For the Painfully Alone, and ‘Looks Good’, a track that maintained a more 60s pop style akin to the retrogressive sound of The Magnetic Fields. Another highlight of the night was the pulsing, cheesy 80s-emulating ‘Don’t Put Your Dreams On Me, Kid’; by this point, the audience were completely onboard with Nadia’s energy and presence as a performer and artist, an artist that is proud to be able to do their own thing without any hindrance! That energy and presence stood at their most vibrant on the final track ‘Legally Hi!’, after which Nadia directed the audience to cassette tapes available from a sleek black briefcase, presented by her husband.
Dubais setlist:
‘Nobody’ (Keith Sweat cover)
‘Pier Pressure’
‘Low Tide’
‘A Bad Situation’
‘Every Party I Never Went To’
‘Don’t Put Your Dreams On Me, Kid’
‘Looks Good’
‘Legally Hi!’
Some time passes as the crowd eventually dissipates, whether it be towards the bar for a quick refreshment, or outside for a smoke. The sounds of The Hope & Ruin performances from upstairs can be overwhelming if you happen to be downstairs, however, that eventually became academic as loud feedback alerted the audience to Kowloon Cowboy’s presence in the form of the opening track, aptly titled ‘Kowloon Cowboy Theme’. We were immediately greeted by the band with distorted guitar tones from James, as well as heavy bass riffs from Gary Yay and an intensely tight groove from drummer Charlie Stanley (of The Ordinary Boys fame). The song eventually gave way to guitar textures not too dissimilar to that of post-rock groups like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, leading almost directly into the next track, ‘The First Ones’. This performance held a similarly steady momentum to the previous cut, although James’ vocals here were wonderfully heartfelt and powerful, something that remains a key highlight of his musical catalogue. The wonderful thing about the many eras of James’ musical projects is that while it still acts incredibly indie in its sound and ethic, it still feels incredibly timeless; that timeless feeling hit me hard on this particular track, through harmonies between Gary and James as well as occasional bursts of feedback that assimilated themselves into the song. ‘Trust The Void’ was the following number, possibly my favourite Kowloon Cowboy release as of yet, (see its stunning music video for proof). It’s fair to say that James’ guitar work in this performance was deceptively beautiful, being both luscious and noisy at once! Despite this current era of James’ musical timeline coming from a more abrasive soundscape, the fragility in his vocal delivery and lyrics still remained within the opening cry of “in the manic rush, ghosted by your god, when it all falls apart, trust the void.”
That fragility was brought into full fruition on the next track, a cover of legendary slowcore band Low’s ‘Clarence White’, off their 2013 release ‘The Invisible Way’. In November last year, we sadly lost Low’s primary drummer and co-founder Mimi Parker to cancer, to the shock of indie music fans the world over, so this wonderful dedication to her memory was truly a high point of the show with its thunderous and floor-tom driven sound and gritty vocal performances. ‘Clarence White’ catapulted almost straight away into ‘Laura Says Distortion’, possibly the best performance of the entire night! This track came complete with almost everything you can hear in a Kowloon Cowboy performance, through ever-shifting dynamics from Charlie’s drumming, the wonderful spearheading interplay from James to the rest of the band and that familiar delicacy that lies within his songwriting. ‘Laura Says Distortion’ plays around with more post-rock oriented atmospheres as the final chorus makes use of some gorgeous descending chords before the song slows down… and slows down… and slows right down… until they kick RIGHT back into a fast groove in the following, unreleased, ‘New York Nothings’! Slightly more raucous in timbre, this track seemed to stay within the same flow as ‘Laura Says Distortion’, albeit with a more post-punk flair as well as some tight grooves from Charlie. Despite the song feeling a little short, it certainly contributed to the experience of the show! Remember that brief LCD Soundsystem nod from earlier? Well, here we come to the final track of the night, a cover of their classic 2004 track ‘Movement’. LCD Soundsystem are one of my favourite bands of all-time and to see Kowloon Cowboy reinvent the song as a closer was an immense moment. Channelling the energy of James Murphy towards a new level, this track saw a slight demolition of the performance space as microphones and their respective stands were knocked over and James falling down to the ground in an electric guitar daydream! With a quiet thank you, Kowloon Cowboy finished on a high to a crowd of friends and fans that jokingly asked for them to write more songs to play!
A tremendous part of Brighton’s musical culture is the peculiar, unlikely and nostalgic realms of the underground indie. Within one evening, I was welcomed to all shades of twee and electronic pop from Dubais, the distorted reveries of Kowloon Cowboy and shared wonderful conversations about Phil Elverum and Animal Collective among other musical subjects with many people. Ultimately, the feelings evoked from the music played tonight were ones I don’t often get to experience as a 20-something indie man. Long live Kowloon Cowboy!
Kowloon Cowboy setlist:
‘Kowloon Cowboy Theme’
‘The First Ones’
‘Trust The Void’
‘Clarence White’ (Low cover)
‘Laura Says Distortion’
‘New York Nothings’ (unreleased)
‘Movement’ (LCD Soundsystem cover)
You can catch Kowloon Cowboy at their next show here at The Hope & Ruin on 17th June, where they will be supporting Blvck Hippie. Tickets HERE.
Support Kowloon Cowboy here: kowlooncowboy.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/realkowlooncowboy
