At some point in the last twenty years, you have heard “In the Meantime” and “Unbelievable”. Heck, the former was all over Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3 trailers. But unless you’re Gen X or an elder millennial and were deep into alternative rock in the 90’s, you may not know the bands that wrote those songs. And if you do, you may not know the other songs in those bands’ repertoires.
Those bands, Spacehog and EMF, are still around, and are just wrapping up a tour together that I can say was plenty of fun and a great argument for reevaluating both bands’ catalogs. There are plenty of gems and deep cuts that deserve recognition, even if they weren’t played constantly on 90’s alternative radio.
Opening the night was New York art-punk entertainers Ecce Shnak. Amalgamating all of the most “out there” bands of the 90’s, this is the type of group you would expect to see playing in an Andy Warhol party. The group’s songs are a bit all over the place; choral vocals, hip-hop cadences, baroque melodies to hardcore punk rages. Musically, it certainly won’t be for everyone – more for fans of Ween, Primus and the most eccentric Talking Heads songs than classic alt rock, but as live performers I can easily say I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. The palpable excitement of not knowing where their songs would go next kept me watching, and when they did reveal bubbles of pop sensibilities in between the off-kilter structures and clashing harmonies, it showed that if this band wanted to write classic-style radio-friendly songs, they easily could.
There was a time in the 90’s when alternative music was closely intermingling with rave and club culture, leading to artists like The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and EMF getting major play in the alternative rock space. And unlike the first two, EMF were an actual full band, though one that took heavy influence from electronic and dance music. The band hit a technical snag when first attempting to make their grand entrance onto the stage, which the frontman apologized for in a proper, humble British manner. Thankfully their second attempt went smoothly, the group started their set with an enviable energy for a group made up of members mostly in their mid-50s/early-60s.
The band blasted into songs like “The Day the Music Died” and “I Believe”, encouraging the audience to dance and move. In between songs, the band revealed that they had been in Los Angeles for two weeks, and were working on new songs. One of which they said was inspired by being around the recent protests happening in Los Angeles, tentatively titled “Hands in the Air”. The band then played the punky protest song, getting the audience to raise their hands during the chorus. Definitely a track I could see myself listening to when they get around to recording it.
While the band had a few other technical slow-downs during the set, for the most part the set was filled with positive energy, a mix of newer songs (“They’re Here”), a wild club medley in the middle of “Reach for the Lasers”, older songs “The Children”, and of course their mega-hit “Unbelievable”. The band also played one more new track, inspired by current events, “LGBTQ+”, on which they were joined by the singers of Ecce Schnak on backing vocals. It was definitely a catch bop and perfect for Pride Month. As they ended their set, the band made an honest admittance about the difficulties of touring in the U.S. these days (hinting it could be their last), between the awful new Trump policies and overall expenses, and revealed they would be spending time at the merch booth after their set to meet fans, take photos and sign merch. It definitely pulled my my heart strings, as it’s depressing knowing so many great bands around the world may never be able to make it to the states to play due to all these reasons.
Though hailing from England, Spacehog‘s Langdon brothers have been U.S.-based for years now, so thankfully it’s not as hard for them to tour, but it’s the recent resurgence of popularity of their smash “In the Meantime” (thanks to recent syncs like in GOTG3) that has encouraged them to get back on the road. I was lightly more familiar with their catalog of songs than I was EMF‘s, making me excited as they launched into “Crack City” and the excellent “Cruel to be Kind” (not a Nick Lowe cover). Dressed at first in a shiny gold jacket, frontman Royston Langdon looked the part of a cosmic rock star.
While EMF drew from European dance culture in their music, Spacehog’s influences came from a very different place. Elements of glam rock, blues and psychedelia all filter through the band’s song, with songs like “Space is the Place” feeling like a dreamy, celestial trip, and “Mungo City” sounding like a lost T-Rex rocker. The wonderful part of 90’s radio is that all of these various sounds could exist in one format. The band glided through these songs, sounding pristine and tempered, while Langdon expelled elements of his outfit until he was down to pants, suspenders and his hat.
The band ended their set with the great “Carry On”, “I Want to Live”, and of course, “In the Meantime”. It was a good sign that the set felt short for me – I was certainly up for more. Thankfully the band did come out to play one more track before thanking the audience for being there and promising to see us again soon.
I hope that’s the case, and honestly, I would love to hear the band take a crack at writing and releasing some new material. What would Spacehog sound like in the 2020’s? I’m curious to find out.
While this tour is over, be sure to check out all of these bands’ deeper cuts, and follow our socials for more videos and photos from the show!
The Indy Review 
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