Jingle-jangle indie, gospel-tinged soul and robot disco. What more do you want from Liverpool Sound City? Well, nothing, says Getintothis’ Will Fitzpatrick.
The dash around town on Liverpool Sound City Day One takes us to Static Gallery, where one-man-band The Publicist is beating the hell out of a drum kit in the middle of the floor.
He also plays in Trans Am, but this solo performance is much more deliberately dance-orientated.
Totally ace, although it’s also hard to shake the feeling that you’re essentially watching some dude play a drum solo with some bleepery in the background.
Is there an excuse for that? Actually, there is: he had a robot voice. And that ALWAYS wins.
Pete & The Pirates are much more adept at crowd-pleasing. Sure, they’re basically The Mighty Lemon Drops, only a) now and b) not shit.
But for all their total lack of innovation, they’re actually really, really fucking good at writing uplifting, jangly indie. Essentially, they’re what happens when your school’s main 6th form band are still kicking out the jams a decade later, only with all the problems solved and an unfair inability to write a rubbish melody.
Our evening closes with ex-Nation Of Ulysses frontman Ian Svenonius, whose latest band Chain & The Gang dabble in gospel-tinged soul.
Looking as sharp as one possibly can in bright orange, Svenonius testifies, high-kicks and screams his way through a blistering set. He may’ve come through a scene with no tolerance for bullshit, but his new act is composed of nothing but bullshit.
Wait, hang on, I’m going somewhere with this. With a band bedecked in (duh) chain gang uniforms, and a so-camp-it’s-hilarious stage show, it’s a far cry from the leftist lunacy of his first band, and he revels in the silliness. He sure does make it look fun though, and it would be pointless to refute the eminently-catchy likes of If You Feel Like You’re Not Good Enough, You’re Probably Not.
Decent start, Sound City, Keep it up, eh?
Pictures courtesy of Conor McDonnell.
