Three great reasons to go to work tired and hungover tomorrow!
Sunday evenings and rock n’ roll action generally don’t go hand in hand, so it’s pleasing to see a decent-sized crowd assembled at the excellent Signature Brew Haggerston this evening. Yeah, there’s work tomorrow, but coffee was discovered for a reason, and in any case, how could we stay in, with three quality bands gracing the stage?
X-Ray Love may well take the prize for sharpest-dressed members, with their guitarist’s waistcoat and tie combo, and singer/guitarist Ella’s dress (look at the photo above, it’ll give you a much better idea of what I’m talking about!). A bunch of New Yorkers who upped sticks and moved to London, they’ve probably long since tired of Blondie comparisons, but they certainly share Debbie Harry’s crew’s pop nous – managing to get a few early birds sashaying away to the appropriately-titled ‘Go Dancing’. Quite rightly unafraid to throw some guitar histrionics into the mix, as on ‘Shark Song’, they dispatch every song with plenty of humour and no little panache, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on them.
Ah, The Speedways, what praises can we sing of you that we haven’t already sung before? Well, those new songs of yours don’t half sparkle – most notably the earworm that is ‘I Shouldn’t Have Tried To Leave Without You’ – and although you were great supporting Screeching Weasel last month, it’s in intimate venues like these where we can really feel the power in your power pop. You look great, and you don’t waste a minute, ripping through the likes of ‘Visiting Hours’ and ‘Secret Secrets’ with barely a pause for breath, never having sounded as lean and tight as you do now. Now hurry up with a new album, for goodness’ sake!
From the moment The Peawees take the stage, we wanna be in their gang, and by the time they launch into a scorching ‘Ready To Go’ (yes, we are – and then some!) we feel seriously bad for anyone who just couldn’t be bothered to show up tonight. The Italian quartet are showmen in the truest sense of the word, and they play a set of punked up rock n’ roll anthems like ‘Plastic Bullets’ and ‘Don’t Knock At My Door’ with the kind of effortless cool you’d expect from a band 30 years in the game. Whether brandishing their guitars at us like shotguns, or all venturing into the crowd together during ‘By My Side’, there’s never a dull moment.
The real treat is saved for the encore, with frontman Hervé taking the stage alone for a gloriously dark rendition of ‘You’ll Never Be Mine Again’, before his band rejoin him for ‘Road To Rock N’ Roll’ and a souped-up version of The Crystals’ classic ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’. As tips of the hat to 60s girl groups’ influence on rock n’ roll go, it’s a great one, and it’s heartening to realise that so many of The Peawees’ songs sound similarly evergreen. Rock n’ roll remains in safe hands, my friends.
Cheers to all involved, including Shake Some Acton for putting it all together! Check out details of future SSA gigs via the link, and future Peawees activity via the links below.
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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