THE VANS
with THE MELOPHOBICS, INSTANT SOCIAL CONVERSION and MUSIC AND SPIES.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2 Friday 3rd August 2012.

As someone who lists "Australians in Europe" (by The Fall) as one of their all-time favourite recordings, it's only natural that I should be curious to hear of the exploits of our antipodean headliners tonight, namely THE VANS. However, judging by their story of the past few weeks, the band name seems most inappropriate! This trio have certainly had severe van problems. Having bought a van in Germany, they had to export it to France to get it licensed! However, this took time and they were forced to cancel early dates of their tour (Esquires included). When they were on their way in the new vehicle, they suffered a major tyre blow out which also led to a bit of internal damage!
In their early twenties, The Vans hail from Perth, Western Australia and comprise Ryan Harris (vocals,guitar), Kat Dale (bass) and Stephen Parker (drums). Their journey so far has cost them a lot of money, but the experience and memories will be priceless. Ryan admits that they "can't even afford real cheese now". They are stuck with "those plastic slices"! They have arrived in Bedford early, Thursday afternoon to be precise. As a result, Ryan asked if he could play an acoustic set at the Bedford Alternative gig. He did and an instant bond was forged. For near on forty eight hours The Vans infamous campervan was a fixture in the Esquires car park! Everyone connected to the venue has only good things to say about our Australian visitors.
As an eighties connoisseur of music from a land down under, my mind flashes back to the marvellous memories of The Triffids (also from Perth) and the massively underrated The Go-Betweens. How would our new breed shape up? Well, sadly the room is only spasmodically filled (post gig I offer the band a few choice comments about the fickle nature of Bedford's so-called alternative music fans, this is done to reassure them). The Vans' attitude is a blessing, even to a gnarled old cynic like myself. The songs are fresh and vibrant, but thought provoking in the quieter moments. There is a constant contrast of styles at all times. "Carried away" is a slow ballad which contains a very unusual and extremely abrupt ending which catches everybody out. "I'll pick you up" is fast and dynamic, but even this is easily and vastly outpaced by the frenetic psychedelic noise force which "Oh! No" builds upon. Suddenly it gets louder and louder. The crescendo for this final song is simply breathtaking. Although they play no songs from it, The Vans EP entitled "Orange" is an essential purchase for this reviewer. The Vans are now on their way to bonnie Scotland, Edinburgh I believe. Firstly Bedford bids them a fond farewell. It's been great hosting them.

The evening begins with MUSIC AND SPIES, an acoustic East Beds duo that I don't feel are quite ready to appear on the main stage yet. Their covers heavy set might appeal to the sort of people who spend their Saturday nights avidly watching X Factor instead of going out and getting their hands stamped! As stated many times before, Bedford's acoustic stock is paying huge dividends at the moment with original songs always at the forefront. It will be good to see these likeable lads in a couple of months time when they have locked themselves away and penned their own songs. When they did perform their own compositions, they were catchy and indicated potential.

INSTANTSOCIAL CONVERSION fail to inspire. It is a dirge ridden indie dance show full of all the appropriate shenanigans. The six piece include keyboards, but it is all pedestrian. This is a sound that has been plagiarised to the point of meaningless. "Looking up" has a video that is currently on YouTube. Sorry, I think I'll stick to Sky Sports!

THE MELOPHOBICS raise spirits slightly. This St. Neots quartet contain good stage presentation. The songs are not earth shattering but they are pleasant enough to listen to and the frontman has a fair degree of charisma. Their indie rock contains such sweet touches, especially on "Better things" and "It Cant Be Much Furthe". A healthy dose of fresh air to a night that started so dismally.