The Unit Ama

Damn You! & Gringo Records presents a special matinee gig with: THE UNIT AMA The jewel of Northumberland. The Unit Ama are the very definition of the cult band loved with an intense fervour by those who have experienced them and completely off-the-radar to anyone else. When rock bands start talking improvisation and jazz it's often time to run to the hills, but Ama walk the finest of tightropes between the two. Their music explodes out of the traditional power trio rock format and constantly redefines the barrier of when just enough becomes too much. You've got to go there to know where there is, right? Their formation (18 years ago) came at a time when underground punk rock music had an obsession with precision and with the idea that a band is a perfect unit, unaffected by outside influence and whose music is pure and definitive. Ama blew minds by sticking a giant middle finger up at that. They could play powerhouse rock better than anyone (and still do) but they embraced accident and happenstance in order to deliver their music in a site-specific way. Put simply, they'd do what the hell they liked with the songs they'd written depending on their mood. The first time Damn You! And Gringo encountered them was when they shared a bill with Wolves Of Greece in Oxford. We all knew about their previous bands particularly guitarist Steve's first band Crane who could legitimately claim to be *the* great lost punk band but nothing prepared us for this. It was part propulsive Dischord post-punk, part Krautrock groove, part wild free jazz, part performance art. ALL terrifying. Seriously they looked like they'd just been let out of prison. At one point bassist Jason smashed the whole electric assembly clean out of his bass at the end of an explosion of sound, leaving it on the floor still plugged in, as drummer Christian and guitarist Steve settled into a minimal throb accompanied only by the buzz of the cable plugged into a pile of wires and plastic at Jason's feet as he played his unamplified instrument. The sound engineer rushed over expecting to find a disconnected cable and carefully picked the lead off the floor (the band are still playing, seemingly oblivious) only to find crouched on the floor in front of Jason - a giant hole in the bass where the input used to be. Jason calmly looked down and mouthed fuck off mate at the sound engineer and they carried on regardless, locked into this accidental sonic event with total bliss. Turns out that was how that song went that night. At the end of the song they asked to borrow a bass and like the love-struck idiots we were, we handed ours over. Anyway The Unit Ama don't rush things. One album was self-released (and then reissued by Gringo) and a mindblowing live LP was released on the esteemed Tusk label a few years back. They rarely play live and are venturing south to a gig in Brighton on the Saturday night so we couldn't pass up the chance to have them come to Nottingham on the way home. https://www.facebook.com/TheUnitAma/ https://theunitama.bandcamp.com/ http://www.gringorecords.com/artist.php?artistid=20 GREY HAIRS Nottingham rock music group Grey Hairs return after a well-deserved break following their 7th anniversary gig last year. New album Health & Social Care is scheduled for release on Gringo in the summer (say thanks to Brexit for the predicted pressing plant delays). 10 songs ruminating on life/work balance, aesthetic punks, Dunning-Kruger syndrome in the Health service, extreme 360 degree cognitive dissonance and most crucially a confusion and inability to tackle these external problems because you're so f*cked by your own personal ones. The sound is leaner and more focused. The rhythm section has gone downright weird and the guitar bends and shudders around it with all 3 elements rarely pushing in exactly the same direction giving vocalist James the space to do more than just yell into the void (though this happens plenty). It's an expansion of their sound that recalls the Birthday Party (but without the vampire schtick) or Laughing Hyenas, of a downer-fuelled B52s, or what surf music sounds like coming from the most land-locked part of the country. They're talking about playing the thing in order for you at this one. But they like to talk. https://www.facebook.com/colossaldowner https://greyhairs.bandcamp.com http://www.gringorecords.com/artist.php?artistid=30 Doors at 3pm. Finished by 6pm. Running order decided on the day, by the toss of a coin or whoever arrives first/is hardest. £5adv from: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/466368 £6 on the door if there are spaces left but we strongly advise buying a ticket as JT Soar has a very limited capacity. Bring your own booze. In fact, bring a picnic if you like. Just behave yourselves and don't make us come over there. If you like the idea of these matinee gigs let us know as we're thinking we might do more of them