Talking with my drinking companions tonight, it seems that good rock ‘n’ roll really does come full circle if you give it long enough. My (slightly younger) companions remark that one of the great things about tonight’s headliners is that there’s definitely a resemblance to King Adora, very much one of the last “indie” bands to really kick up a racket and show some ambition and fun before the whole scene set its sights on being just as dull and humourless as the Strokes/Libertines/Arctic Monkeys/insert your own particular hate figures here.
The thing is, being a bit older, I always liked King Adora because they reminded me a lot of the band who soundtracked a lot of my juvenile delinquency episodes as a 15-year-old, These Animal Men. And as fate would have it, tonight’s support band Thee Orphans feature both Boag and Hooligan from the Brighton speed-punks. And they’re pretty damn good as well – those of you who like the Bermondsey Joyriders’ whole “MC5 as a power trio” sound (though Hooligan’s vocals owe more to Noddy Holder than Rob Tyner) will definitely find plenty to get your teeth into here. Give ‘em a listen pronto if you know what’s good for you.
Jonny Cola & The A-Grades are also a band who hark back to a time when indie music was fun, flashy and ambitious and as they swagger through “The Party’s Over” you really have to ask yourself how the hell we went from a time when indie music was this good into an age where dullards like Razorlight were hailed as gods in the ascendant. Luckily, the healthy following they’ve attracted here tonight suggests that maybe, just maybe, the scene is finally starting to tip the other way a bit as “Alpha Male” and their new Yuletide single “All I Want For Christmas Is An Action Man” get a rousing reception from the assembled faithful. Finishing off with a run through former single “Postcode Wars”, you have to conclude that this band has the potential to go on to very big things in 2012.
Why not come along and see ‘em at the Pure Rawk awards in March and judge for yourself?
