Moss Grotto
‘Art as a Protest’ @ The Artery Studios, Worcester
7th December 2024
Like all the best bands, Moss Grotto was founded in a remote cabin after an experimental jam session involving guitar pedals, tape players and a serendipitous supply of electricity. The Worcestershire duo, Harry (guitar) and Jack (keys and modded tape player) recently became a trio with the addition of Rich (bass). The SLAP review of their recent ‘Drones and Tones’ gig at The Firefly in Worcester mentioned ‘meditative ambient soundscapes’. Based on that description alone, they were the perfect choice of band to perform at the ‘Art as a Protest’ fundraiser for Medical Aid for Palestinians organised by Yasmin Agilah and Worcester Palestine Solidarity, which happened in The Artery Studios next door to SLAP HQ.
Having not heard Moss Grotto before nor read the aforementioned review, I had no idea what to expect. Rich warmed up his fingers by playing ‘The Chain’ (aka ‘the old Formula One theme’) then another bass line that I had thought was from an obscure song called ‘Net ‘n’ Yahoo’, and which was in fact ‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads. Throughout the soundcheck and the performance, not one, but two rolling exhibitions of photos taken in Palestine by Harry a couple of years ago were projected onto the wall behind the band and onto the one to their right. The back wall photos were of coasts, hills, and an indigo flower emerging from underneath a rock. Each photo had a grainy, 80s texture that seemed so authentic, I wouldn’t have been shocked to see one of Harry taking a selfie with Yasser Arafat. The side wall photos were of graffiti on West Bank walls, so that for an evening at least, a wall in Worcester was a part of Palestine.
The first ‘track’ was ‘The Nakba’, though like the actual Nakba, it was difficult to know when it had finished, as each ‘track’ merged into the next. Still, they deserve to exist as separate pieces if only to savour titles such as ‘The Storm Killed The Dog’ and ‘Music For the Wasp’. Throughout the set, Jack remained hunched over his gadgets like a very serious mechanic, adjusting various knobs to create wonderfully eerie sounds. The birdsong motif was slightly unsettling as it strained to be heard above jumbled, murky voices, the words impossible to recognise except for ‘there is no more’. As Jack also mimicked the noise of some already very sharp knives being sharpened, a spaceship waiting to land, and a dolphin with a sore tummy, Harry and Rich made a shoegaze haze with frequent surprises. At one point, Harry’s single finger bar chords sounded like the first millisecond of ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ on repeat, which is apt, as seconds later he produced the sound of a T-Rex (from his guitar, I should add).
Moss Grotto’s new album Crockerland, to be released next year, is a concept album inspired by the doomed Crocker Land Expedition. In 1913, a group of American lads went to find an island called Crocker Land, which was a non-existent place invented by someone who had claimed they had been to the North Pole. Indeed, it’s where the phrase ‘crocker sh*t’ comes from. Anyway, if you like Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Sigur Rós, Ry Cooder and bleak, beautiful and startling soundscapes, make sure you listen to Moss Grotto. And, as Jack said as the last notes drifted towards the archway ceiling, Free Palestine.
You can donate to Medical Aid for Palestine.
By: Neil Laurenson