Black Pulp
Black Pulp kicked off a mysterious evening at Buyers Club and Getintothis’ Jackie Lees was intrigued.
This was a strange night indeed.
The Buyers Club was festooned with pinata’s for this event, they ranged from Dinosaurs to Darth Vader, there was also cut-out paper bunting tied above the stage giving it an unusual proscenium effect.This slightly mysterious event had us intrigued.
Liverpool’s Black Pulp have been on Getintothis’ radar for some time, their new release, Cry Again, featured this month in our Singles Club, along with attracting well-deserved radio plays. The band have a distinctive, guitar-led sound, which has evolved over time. Their well-crafted, upbeat songs were delivered in a tight, accomplished set, which it was hard to fault and ended too soon.
They were followed by Native Kings, who describe themselves as a, ‘three piece stampede from Liverpool’, they formed at LIPA. They have a hard edge to their sound and songs which have catchy hooks and strong guitar solos. The band are due to release their latest single, Afraid To Love You, at the end of the month.
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The headliners and event hosts, Skinner’s Lane, were another mystery, with little advance information available.This, it transpired, was due to it being their debut performance. It is undoubtedly brave and ambitious to take on a large-ish venue, host your own event and headline it as a first venture.
The event was undoubtedly well-organised and well supported so credit must go to the team for that. However, when Skinner’s Lane took to the stage, their inexperience and nerves were immediately apparent. That they are talented instrumentalists is not in doubt, but stage-craft, like any other skill, needs to be honed and polished and that only builds from experience.
The songs were unstructured and sometimes a little baffling. Their saving grace was the saxophone, played impressively by a young lady who was introduced as the ‘Californian Mary Poppins‘ The three piece band and their two guest musicians are, it is understood, still students at LIPA, so they have plenty of time ahead of them to progress and develop their own style, but hats off to them ‘for having a go.
The band describe themselves as being, ‘Sent from Valhalla to take over the world’ – that’s a start.
Pictures by Getintothis’ Gary Coughlan
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