Right. So a man walks in to a bar (again) and gets assaulted by the point blank power chords of a band. Raucous and pretty much out of control, said band rattled through their set like it was their last. Spotting a poster on the wall, my curiosity was satisfied. The band was The Retrofrets. Then the bass player hurled his instrument in my general direction before storming off in a big girl huff. Not really rock 'n' roll but neither is a raisin and biscuit Yorkie.
Altogether classier was local girl done good Lou Hickey. No, she really has done good and landed a deal with Island Records. The sound in Bloc was too murky to do her tastefully urbane yet melodramatic songs justice but perhaps she now has the stepping stone to take her music to a wider audience. I certainly hope so.
Talking of the melodramatic, you don't get much more melodramatic than Joe Black. He even looks like he kind of guy that hides in a cupboard during daylight hours. There was no doubting his ability on the keyboards and accordion but his oblique tunes are certainly something of an acquired taste. I reckon that if he played a pub on, say, Shettleston Road, they would either kill him or adopt him. It's a bi-polar matter of taste thing.
Rounding things off were Brighton band BirdEatsBaby. They, too, were prone to melodrama but underneath that gothic cabaret façade was a remarkably good band with a knack for irritatingly catchy melodies and well constructed songs. The muddy sound wasn't allowing their deliciously twisted lyrics to shine through but you can always get a copy of their album"Here She Comes a Tumblin" for that. Come to think of it, they even looked like they were having a good time on stage and that is not exactly common these days. I'm actually glad that I came out to see them play (and that's not just the Guinness talking). BirdEatsBaby make music that is good for the soul.