25th October 2004. The Barfly, Camden.
Four bands for a fiver? Including one of the hottest new acts around? Camden's Barfly club, how I love you so. But would it be a case of quantity over quality? Eh? Eh?
First up were The Answer, and maybe it's unfair to review a band after only hearing one song, but then that's never stopped us before. Whilst queuing to get in for bloody ages a disillusioned man walked past, proclaiming them to be awful: "Like The Black Crowes but even more over-serious". He wasn't wrong. The lyrics seem to be about 'Being Free' and 'Being True To Yourself' and it's all done in a horribly over-earnest kind of way, bordering on parody almost. So it's no tragedy that most of their set is missed judging by this.
Next on were Fans Of Kate. Not expecting too much after The Answer, they're a more than pleasant surprise, a kind of upbeat Cure vocally, but without any hint of a Goth sound musically, they're clearly passionate about what they do. You could worry about the lead singer's mental health for inbetween songs he comes
Mellowdrone are asking for trouble with a name like that. For they do exactly that. At one point the singer proclaims "Yeah we know we're shit, but we're up here and you're down there so what does that make you?" Or words to that effect. I can't speak for the rest of the audience, but what it makes me is someone pretty aware of the fact that they can't sing that well. Something which the frontman of Mellowdrone hasn't realised about himself. It's not that they're in anyway terrible, and their cover of Moon River is vaguely charming, but they're as bland as hell during the rest of the set.
And so finally to the headliners themselves. They're tipped for the top. They're "The Next Big Thing". There's nine of them, and they produce a pretty damn unique sound, a mix of metal, rock, soul and pop. They probably scare the hell out of small children. Ah, Do Me Bad Things, if only you were as good as you really should be. Hell, probably will be. Let's be optimistic here because these are early days after all. Three months back they were still playing at Croydon's Kartoon venue, home of the dodgy rock cover band, and they've only just been signed up (reportedly for £450,000) to a record label.
But right now the problem is that they're a little too all over the place. In almost every song there was a section where I found myself thinking "Wow, I love this" but then they had to go and spoil it all by launching in to something which didn't quite fit in. Part of the problem is that they suffer from "Two Many Cooks" syndrome. Don't get me wrong, I normally love bands that are versatile, that lurch from one genre to another, but here the mix doesn't always work, and Brian Moloko lookalike Nicolai seems to be the weakest link, his voice is strong, but unremarkable, unlike The Woods' and Chantal's. The three female backing singers are a refreshing addition to their sound, but two of them (ie the two who aren't Chantal) occasionally come across as a little weak in certain songs, they remind me of seeing too many drunken karaoke singers, though oddly this isn't always the case.
This review is all far too negative for a band that I really do like. It's a matter of frustration - they show so much promise, at times get it so right, that it's damn annoying that they don't all the time. Final song Daily Grind is amazing, a short burst of what they're capable of , and throughout the night they whip the crowd in to a frenzy - bar those who leave early, not quite sure of what they've seen here tonight.
So there's much potential heard tonight, at least from Fans Of Kate and Do Me Bad Things. But right now we can't promise that it'll be delivered upon. But hopefully it will be. Hopefully.
Alex Finch.
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