Review: Merchandise engage with a dark and intense world of sound
- The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, plays host to an incredible 3 band line-up on 4th November
- Support comes from the soundscapes of, Matters, and the pop choruses of EZTV
- Merchandise take over the venue with newly invigorated energy
Matters‘ gloomy instrumental soundscapes resound as if straight out of a classic film set in a dystopian future, offering the perfect compliment to the headliner’s cinematic musings. EZTV‘s music is a potent contrast. Harkening from a sun-soaked east coast, the groups star spangled refrains and searing pop choruses paint a picture a thousand miles from the darkened basement venue.
With their latest album, A Corpse Wired For Sound, Merchandise have ventured away from their hometown of Tampa, Florida, and explored brand new horizons. Going into a studio together for the first time, the group emerged with a rock epic more tightly honed than anything they’ve released to this point. Performed live the tracks take on a newly invigorated energy, emboldened by the groups near decade long history.
Laughing as they ask the room how they’re going to vote come the US election the next week, Merchandise’s energy is as powerful as their music. The Tampa outfit own every moment they spend on The Sunflower Lounge‘s stage. Front-man Carson Cox stands centre under the stage lights, his charismatic performance a magnetic force among the groups swirling refrains. It’s a dark and intense world of sound the group create, an ever evolving exploration towards wherever you want it to go, and it’s one that’s as engaging as it is immersive.
