The ranting, yet infectious sounds of shambolic duo LOOK LOOK (DANCING BOYS) starts the evening off in good style. I’ve seen’em twice before, so was well pleased when I arrived to see them on the bill.
It’s a delight to watch the reactions of all those people who hadn’t yet witnessed the brilliance of two ballsy girls making lots of noise and screaming ‘Fuck you! Fuck me!’ over and over again, like Peaches’ bitchy little sisters. And when these two sassy, tough, cute looking girls come on stage, and start going ‘Raaah!’ at each other into the microphones to warm it up, they make everyone laugh. They launch into high speed rant ‘Relivin' My Childhood’, and a friend remarks ‘Well they’ve won me over.’
Well of course they have, what’s not to like? Amelia – the one with the guitar is a bit drunk tonight we’re told. A surly snarl flickers across her face now and then, nicely balanced by Stephanie – the one with the mic, and sometimes keyboard or ipod, who’s hyper, wearing a beaming smile, and seemingly the one in charge tonight.
It’s short sharp blasts of silly screamy fun.. shit pop/ hip hop/ punk rock, bubble gum, rollies and beer, that kinda thing. Two songs in, Steph holds a nice 2 second silence in the midst of the madness, which tells me it’s not all shambles, they are paying attention. ‘Tit Wank’ is followed by one of my favourites – ‘Hell Yeh Old Time’ with Steph bouncing up and down singing in front of Amelia, and they seem pretty tight on this one. They end with ‘Arse Road’, whose whipped up frenzy of casio beats always works on me, and the same goes for this crowd.
Nice one Look Look. You did it again, you silly crazy fucks.
So that was the bonus surprise first act for me, the reason I hauled my ass out to Hoxton Square was to finally see THE BLEEPS. I’ve been meaning to do this since I first spotted one of their dancers, tearing up the floor in a breakdancing battle in some club. We got talking, and it turns out that he is in fact the dancing pig for his brother’s band The Bleeps. Now I finally get to witness their mighty live show. And I must say, I wasn’t disappointed.
The Bleeps were, how shall I put it – sexy, in a slightly odd way. In other words, hell yes, I was transfixed.
In the middle we have Paul, in the role of manic rabbit drummer, and in front, Remy on guitars and vocals, dressed in an impressive skeleton suit. (It’s their Halloween special tonight.) To our left we have Dan, in a Mexican wrestling mask, and to our right, James, the noble dancing pig who got me here tonight. His pig mask has a serious intense impression, and by the end of the set, he’s sweating like a .. well, a pig of course. Party tricks on his part include lighting flash paper and throwing flames in the air throughout the set. There are only two dancers tonight, but when they do a full show, there’s a whole host of characters, including a midget and a stripper. I think I need to see that.
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They tear straight in with ‘These Are The Men’ and roll on with 'I’m Doing Well.' A huge sound hits with a tune that about being ‘bigger than Hip Hop’ followed by another beast of a song, ‘Step Back’ It’s a bit like getting beaten round the ears with a very tasty slab of ‘rrrock’ steak. No holds barred, a swaggering swamp monster of a sound. It growls, it pants, it gyrates. It’s worthy I tell you. I would say they’re a band you need to see live to get a real impression.
After being treated to some uber dextrous beat boxing from our host Mr Mouth, we’re left wondering if he’s managed to somehow hide a set of decks in there somewhere, such is his demonstration of absolute slickness.
And now for the last band THE MIGHTY ROARS. They were just really loud. Sure they were rockin’ out, but I thought they were a bit plain and loud compared to the the first two bands I’d just seen, - who to be fair were a bit more on the crazy side, but then I like seeing fresh new things. I did enjoy some of the songs, ‘Whale’ and one called ‘Back, Sack and Crack’. And Lara Granqvist is a damn good feisty frontwoman, which would suggest comparisons to bands like Juliette and the Licks.
Though The ‘Roars weren’t the most exciting part of my night, they rounded it off well enough, right before we adjourned to the bar for a few of those really good caipirinha cocktails. ‘Nuff said.
www.myspace.com/looklookdancingboys
www.myspace.com/thebleeps
www.myspace.com/themightyroars
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