Can I apologise in advance for the excessive use of hyperbole, lashings of over the top enthusiasm and raving in this post…. The Rumble Strips are quite simply fucking brilliant! They may be second on the bill tonight but make no mistakes these boys are the stars.
Upcoming single “Motorcycle” (video/MP3) is a slice of pure pop genius. Its one of those rarest of songs…a uniter! Everyone should like it. Your granny will dance to it at your cousins wedding, slaughtered rugby lads will holler along while pouring beer over their heads, and squadies in Iraq will film their own hilarious video to it (a la Amerillo) featuring an iraqi pow recreating the high note in the middle as they attach diodes to his vernaculars! Tonight Charlie apologises at the end of Motorcycle, he’s had a cold and is worried that he might of missed Motorcycles highest note. If he did, I didn’t notice, but this may have been because I was too busy grinning like a cheshire cat. The bass line that kicks in at the end of the said high note is one of those life affirming moments when you realise just how fantastic great music can make you feel. Who needs happy pills…? Motorcycle is full of such memorable moments from the aforementioned screech, to the lovely horn soaked opening…its instantly recognisable, and also evocative of many acts before (Dexy’s Midnight Runners & The Beautiful South being the most obvious).
The MP3’s doing the rounds in advance of their debut single (17th January, Transgressive Records) are all live tracks, and they certainly don’t disappoint this evening. They may only be on stage for half an hour but its enough to show the potential crossover gold of their 80’s mix of Northern Soul, Madness, and the Beautiful South. Although there’s already a glut of 70’s and 80’s referencing bands about, they’re definitely more than just a Dexy’s tribute act, and at the very least its great to hear someone pilfering a different slice of the 80’s.
Henry Clarke (Keys/Trumpet) and Thomas Gorbut (Sax/bass) provide the fantastic Northern Soul brass section, but then I’m a sucker for a good brass sound. There surely needs to be some sort of quota system to ensure enough records are released with decent horns (and while we’re at it the same goes for harmonica solos, and those Poo-Poo synn drums). Anyway I digress… to sum it up Transgressive have a potential monster on their hands, and it would be a crime if they insist on releasing it as a limited edition run of 1000 seven inches.
This stuff needs to available in Woolies!
In singer Charlie they also have a front man with a unique voice, and I don’t just mean THAT high note on Motorcycle. Watching him on stage, small as he is, and with an almost comedicly battered tiny guitar, you’re unprepared for the voice that emerges. It soars, it yelps, it croons, it out Rowlands, Kevin…in short it astounds!
Jools Holland must be already pencilling them in for the next series, and Fern Cotton will proclaim them her favourite new band…. make no mistake The Rumble Strips will Fly (or Fllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy - watch the vid)
Download the MP3 of Motorcycle for a limited time from here.
For an alternative but equally gushing review read Pete Ashtons excellent post on their Birmingham gig.
The Young Knives headlined and were also very good. Much better live than on record…and they really deserve a decent write up when I’ve finished raving about their support. They did say at one point that “We’ve been on tour with The Rumble Strips for a while now and we have to say Wow …. they’re absolutely amazing”. They then joked that the bastards hadn’t said anything nice about them!
Easily the second best record shop in North London, after Woolie’s on Junction Road, Puregroove have managed the feat of reaching 15, and so quite rightly showed off in style with a bash at The Dome. Over their 15 years theyve managed to reinvent themselves from what I remember as a Hard House and Garage specialist who’d look at guitar with a puzzled look (wheres the BPM button!) to now being at the forefront of the current 7″ sized boom in guitar rock (not that theyve forgotten about dance of course).
They assembled a fantastic line up culled mostly from their own Marquis Cha Cha label but with added Duke Spirit, and initially also featuring Plan B but in the end he wasnt on the bill which was a shame as i’d have liked to have seen him. The Folds were the first up, and I have to be honest I was mostly concerned with getting/supping a pint during their set, and only returned at the end to witness spinal tap being reinacted as the guitarist crashed through the drum kit and lay prostrate for what seemed like 5 minutes(see pic). Initial whoops gave way to puzzled looks - “Do you think its all part of the Art or should I go check he’s ok?” the slightly bemuzed stagehand asked me.
O Fracas got the crowd whipped up a bit more, especially when they dragged a drum center stage, and started some ferocious and fantastic precusion… is it possible to do an indie version version of fela kuti!
Negative for Francis were also excellent, particularly the front man who worked the crowd and the stage, especially when compared to The Mules up next who were hampered by the old problem of the drummer singer. The music itself was certainly unusual, apparently dubbed “electrobilly”, its a mixture of Punk and Country with a hint of The Pogues, but the fact that the singer is stuck behind the drumkit just killed the atmosphere for me, along with any chance of a connection with the audience.
Next up was the main act on the bill, The Duke Spirit, and they brought along with them a gaggle of very excitable fans. As lead singer Liela stormed though a hugley impressive set including several new tracks those down the front screamed at her pleadingly “I love you!”. I have to admit that although I loved their first couple of seven inches I was a little disapointed by the album (although ive listened again since the gig), and wasnt expecting to be so impressed by them live.
Towards the end the fans were invited up on stage, led initially by a Toyah Wilcox dressalike who lept about and shook the tamborine with glee! It was the last gig of the year for The Dukes’, and if they restart next year in this kind of form then 2006 should be a big one for them.
The set list was:
Lion Rip
Got me on a hook
Salt the Stings
Dog Roses
Big Bird
Love is an unfamiliar name
Cuts Across the Land
Red Weather
You had to feel sorry for Darlington’s We Start Fires who had to cope with not only following The Duke Spirit but also coming on stage at home time for the tube users of London. As Duke Spirit finished half the crowd dashed for the doors and the last tube home. If this bothered the girls (and one boy) it didnt show and they simply carried on the party atmosphere, dragging half the Puregroove staff on stage for a mass dance off at the end. They both looked, and sounded fantastic.
I’d been umming and arring about whether to dash for the last tube after Duke Spirit, but opted to stick around to catch the final act, Bromheads Jacket. Theyve been compared lyrically to The Streets, basically because they sing about ATM’s and McDonalds, but theres a flavour of Billy Bragg in there too, which for me is praise indeed. Their debut single sold out in a flash, and unless you hurry to Puregroove the new one will be gone too, complete with a genius tribute to St.Albans Chicken Wraps on the b-side.
The crowd loved every minute of it and so did I, although by this point the security had obviously had enough of all the stage invasions and started hurling anyone who jumped up back from wence they came. Singer Tim’s parents were in the crowd, and according to Tim “could be approached if you wanted to know anything about Marks & Spencers”.
Click here to download two tracks from the “Surrey Girls and Samsung Ringtones EP” - Leslie Parfitt & Woolley Bridge.
