Et tu Brutus

Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh
Wed March 20th 2013
Edinburgh scene super-groups don't come along every day, yet the 
arrival of Et tu Brutus opening a four-band House of Crust bill 
headlined by Californian punks, Fracas, is a tantalising prospect. 
Initiated by Edinburgh School For the Deaf/St Judes Infirmary/Young 
Spooks/Naked auteur Grant Campbell and The Leg's Dan Mutch as a studio 
project, the pair have drafted in a rhythm section of Leg drummer Alun 
Thomas and former Sara and the Snakes guitarist Andy Brown to put flesh 
on the skinny-assed bones of Campbell and Mutch's avant-garage hardcore 
template.

With Campbell wielding a microphone/intercom set-up that looks and 
sounds like it was looted from a 1950s black cab, the muffled fuzz 
gives the words he reads from A4 sheets of paper a rawness that's 
accentuated by the band's wilfully no-fi sound helmed by Mutch's 
guitar, which is played relentlessly, veering off into all kinds of odd 
angles before barraging its way home.

Thomas' intricate guitar patterns give things an equally adventurous 
air, while Brown's meat and two veg bass playing recalls Steve Hanley 
during classic era Fall. Until he starts playing it with a 
cheese-grater, that is, which is when things really start to shake, 
rattle and roll.

The six song set is all Et tu Brutus have for the moment, but the 
hellfire intensity that pulses them is still worth getting stabbed in 
the back for.

The List, April 2013

ends