In a city where bars and venues, from Taksim to Beşiktaş to Kadıköy, are filled with 80s cover bands and generic DJs, it is often easy to forget that there actually exists a living, breathing music scene. But once you know where to look, there are a select few venues that do host concerts of original, non-mainstream music. The esteemed Karga Bar in the bar street district of Kadıköy is one such venue. Think of it as the Peyote of the Asian side, if you will. Of course, first you have to find it.
A small unmarked door of a seemingly abandoned building opens up to 3 floors of bars, and on the top floor sits a freshly renovated stage. Last Saturday it hosted a double-bill of fresh, original, Istanbul-based talent made up almost entirely of expats.
Medical Phalanx of Space:
First up was Medical Phalanx of Space (MPoS). For those who don’t know them, they should definitely be on your watch-list of original Istanbul-based bands. This was my third time watching them live, all within two months.
To me, MPoS is the definition of a super-band: a trio consisting of seasoned musicians from different backgrounds, with experience playing countless styles of music in different bands, before uniting under the Medical Phalanx of Space banner, less than a year ago in Istanbul. Singer/Guitarist Alexx is a Music graduate in synth engineering from Liverpool, Bassist Simon Johns has provided basslines for many English bands, namely Stereolab and Imitation Electric Piano, and Chilean Xavi is one of the most sought-after drummers in the city, currently keeping himself busy with shoegaze outfit Ferforje, as well as MPoS.
It would be almost cruelly unjust to simplify their music down to a genre, or a few keywords. They draw from a plethora of different styles from different eras to write their music. Even their own songs don’t all belong to the same style. I asked frontman Alexx to name 3 bands he think they sound like, and his answer was Echo and the Bunnyman, The Jam and, after a long pause, Television. Power, noise, and symmetry are the three elements that dominate their music, as is described by the band.
Yet most of all, what unifies their music is not so much a genre or a style, but rather their unique method of making songs work. Drumbeats are fast and aggressive, almost super-human at times. You almost can’t decide whether to stare at Xavi with an open mouth or try to shake your body to the rhythm of his robotically fast drumming. It’s quite common for trios where the guitar player also sings, to have the bass drive the melody in the songs. But this has rarely been executed as well as bassist Simon does it. The catchy bass melody of their set closer “Armadillo Sings the Killing Moon” has been stuck in my head since Saturday night. It’s very refreshing to hear the bass having such a central role outside the boundaries of bass-driven electronic music.
Locked-in together, the bass and the drums set the firm symmetrical structure upon which Alexx paints aural textures with a heavily-driven guitar and tasteful use of effects. His voice, powerful and a bit on the bass-end of the vocal spectrum, is a breath of fresh air amidst all the more treble-sounding singers in today’s music. The chemistry between the members makes for an intoxicating sound. None of them dominates the sound, but instead each member leaves enough aural space for the other two to roam.
All in all, MPoS is a great band that sounds way more mature than their short time playing together would have you expect. Judging by how much I sweat just dancing at their gig, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to perform their music. However, they do a brilliant job of it, and punctuate powerful after powerful song by hilarious on-stage banter. Their setlist consists almost entirely of powerful up-beat songs, with the exception of “Ingratitude,” their penultimate number. They closed the set, short yet concise, with a brilliant improvised ending to “Armadillo Sings the Killing Moon,” leaving you craving more — a good thing for such an active band that lives in your city.
Spent Ex:
Next up was Spent Ex, a half-American half-Turkish six-piece playing a mixture of punk, hardcore and noise-rock. The band consists of vocalists Joe, Irmak and Jake (who also plays the bass), guitarist Andy, drummer Murat, and keyboard player Merve. Unlike ‘MPoS’, I don’t have only nice things to say about this band, but I believe that my honesty in stating their flaws would only reinforce the compliments that would follow.
It’s not an easy task to follow MPoS, and I have to admit that I didn’t think Spent Ex was pulling it off at the beginning. The first song titled “Absinthe” was messy. Drummer Murat is undoubtedly skilled, but it felt like he was punching way above his weight at first, and he was losing the beat. Keyboard player Merve looked awkward on stage, and singer Irmak almost didn’t move, apart from the kind of swaying that perhaps is befitting of an opera singer. It can be very liberating not to have to carry an instrument on your shoulders on stage, as it gives you the freedom to grab the microphone and dance, but Irmak instead limited her freedom of movement by holding a giant pint of beer for the first half of the show. For their part, Jake, Joe and Andy did a wonderful job of working the crowd, who seemed to be made up of a dedicated fan-base of friends and colleagues. More comfortable on stage than their younger bandmates, they were going crazy and dancing their butts off, which was perhaps the only reason I stuck around. By the end, though, I was glad that I did.
As the setlist progressed, almost all my grievances about Spent Ex were gone. The drumbeats got tighter, Merve and Irmak started dancing, and the naysayers such as myself started to warm up to the band, which described themselves as “a drunk man’s band… no, a drunk woman’s band!” before launching into a feedback-driven number called “Cracker.” I wouldn’t say you had to be drunk to enjoy it, but it does take a while for a new listener to get what Spent Ex is all about. Once you do, however, it’s very enjoyable.
There are elements of cynicism and comedy in their music: some strange blend of The Offspring’ and Suicidal Tendencies. The lyrics are stories, often funny and skeptical simultaneously. Joe is a great frontman; he stresses coherence and timing as he tells his stories, and lets Jake and Irmak do the vocal work. His different, enlightened and brutally honest way of viewing the world around him is reflected in his lyrics. The prime example of this was the final song “Daddy-O.” I won’t go into detail or spoil the story behind it, but I would strongly recommend you catch them at their next show, if only to witness Joe pour his heart out in the most aggressive way possible with this song.
Just as enjoyable as watching a band who have established their own formula for music-making and who are able to deliver that flawlessly, is watching a new band on their journey to discover their sound. As far as first impressions of a band goes, Spent Ex are not immediately attractive, but they have a lot of potential. In their defense, Irmak, Merve, and Murat are young and relatively new to the kind of performance that Spent Ex seeks to deliver, and judging alone by how much they improved within the hour or so of Saturday night’s performance, they have no flaws that can’t be improved upon with persistence. Irmak’s vocals and Merve’s synth work offer a great melodic juxtaposition of order against the chaotic noise-driven guitar work, and a musical accessibility in contrast to the aggressive drums and speech-like vocals. With time, it’s clear that Spent Ex will improve its stage presence and perfect its original blend of musicality and noise, and I will be sure to drop by and check in on their progress whenever I get the chance.
Upcoming Shows and Related Links:
Medical Phalanx of Space will be performing a charity gig with Rubber Walrus (and other acts to be announced), on Friday 6 June at Karakedi. Find out more here.
They will also be returning to the Asian side on Sunday 8 June, this time next door from Karga at Arka Oda, where they will play together with the German noise rock outfit Ten Volt Shock, and American indie trio Memory Boys. Here’s the link for the Facebook Event.
Spent Ex will be playing on Thursday 12 June at Shaft in Kadıköy, and on Friday 13 June at Pendor Corner Bar. Like their Facebook page to keep up-to-date with event links and more upcoming shows.
Arya Afshar Mohajer is a contributor for Yabangee.
