Live Report: Hysterical happenings with HYPER GAL!

There’s no doubt that women have saved the soul of rock music. All the macho, masculine posturing of the last 60 years had reached a musical dead end and there was really no place left to go. That music has been taken off life support and is in ruddy health is in no doubt due to a more inclusive environment, and if proof were needed then look no further than tonight’s line-up; three acts and not a biological male in sight, and an evening filled with more creativity than I’ve seen on (and off) stage in a long time

HYPER GAL + Rainham Sheds + EB, The Library, Oxford on 24.10.2024

There’s something about the mysterious and enigmatic artist known as “EB” that makes me think she’s an escapee from the science lab at the local Oxford University. Manipulating sonics to great effect makes for a rather discombobulating affair as words on tape loops are spliced and delayed and attack the listener from all angles. When EB makes a sojourn to the middle of the crowd and then pours a drink over herself, it takes many by surprise, but it seems that the main lesson when dealing with EB is to always expect the unexpected. There’s an unpredictability to EB’s performance that makes being confined in such a small space seem a little dangerous and that makes tonight’s set an unforgettable experience.

With a suitably abstract moniker, I didn’t quite know what to expect from a band called Rainham Sheds but it wasn’t the musical deluge that hit me when the band plugged in and played and gave my senses a good battering. Part experimental art collective, part rock group, this quartet dispense with all the old clichés to deliver a show that’s more a piece of Bertold Brecht theatre than your average gig. They’ve a vocalist who weaves through the crowd, not so much singing, more unleashing a series of primal screams that are unsettling in their raw emotion. The bass guitar is usually hidden in bands; its rhythmic quality tends to get subsumed by the other instruments, yet here the bassist is the glue that holds everything together and has a powerful style that brings to mind Dennis Dunaway. Songs such as He’s Not My Dad and Sex With Furniture are as visceral as their title suggest and make for another memorable set.

Hailing from the sprawling metropolis of Osaka, the duo who comprise HYPER GAL should already be familiar to readers of AVO Magazine. Featuring drummer (and noise artist) Kurumi Kadoya and vocalist (and visual performer) Koharu Ishida, something very special happens when these two musicians join forces and has already resulted in two solid albums (both released on the terminally cool Skin Graft label) and an exhaustive tour of Europe finds them making a welcome stop at Oxford’s The Library venue.

Appearing inside a wall of glorious feedback, HYPER GAL immediately assault our eardrums with waves of sonics, but this isn’t just noise for noise sake. The tone and pitch of the keys (controlled by drummer Kurumi) have been carefully considered and they resonate with the listener on a deep, primordial level. Then, when you factor in Kurumi’s hypnotic, polyrhythmic drumming and Koharu emitting vocals that fizz then pop you have a show that demands you full attention.

Without the aid of special effects or fancy lighting HYPER GAL train every pair of eyes on the stage and hold them spellbound over 45-frenetic minutes. There’s something about their songs which alters the very fabric of time which means their set is over all too soon, but not before they returned for a well-earned encore which allows them to soak up some well-deserved applause and I, for one, can’t wait for their return.