- Independent UK Promoting

COG Review - 6/9/08 (Once A Thief/Frantic/Sketchbeat/Operators)

Club Night Review

Saturday 6^th September at the Metro, Oxford Street

Bands: Once A Thief, Frantic, Sketchbeat, Operators

Travelling is a useful experience. It broadens your mind and opens you to new ways of doing things. You can compare countries, and see for yourself what some places lack or have in abundance. Take Jordan for example. It’s hot and stays that way most of the year. It has mountains and plains, the world’s tallest flag, the Dead Sea, and, in Petra, one of the most unique and wondrous ancient cities in the world. And yet as I passed through the unique ruins on horseback, I realised that what Jordan lacked was a club night showcasing the very best up and coming British indie bands, on the first and third Saturdays of the month.

Thank heavens I live in the UK then, where such nights exist through Check Out Gigs. The four-band line up proffered on this occasion contained some young whippersnappers as well as more established underground acts. The Operators were firmly in the former category, all bright-eyed and rosy cheeked with checked shirts and Oasis-style hair. They were friendly, bantered with the crowd even though nobody wanted them to, and smiled till their faces hurt. Bless.

Musically they were a mixed bag; their typical upbeat indie at times enjoyable and memorable, at other times contrived, uninteresting and plain shoddy. Their sound is similar to many contemporaries, from the Dega Breaks to the Raid with a little Fez thrown in. There’s an element of Bluetones to them as well, mainly brought on by the fact that, to their credit, they incorporate a well-defined lead guitar that occasionally adds variety to their bog standard tracks.

Essentially they play like how they look; eighteen-year-olds who met up at school and decided to form a band to play what they liked to listen to, with only the main guitarist being developed enough to no longer simply copy riffs or keys he’s heard of and instead start playing his own thing.

They appear to have popped the indie spot and ooze catchiness, but there doesn’t appear to be much under the surface. They represent a lack of quality emblematic of all bands that never made it – there are moments in the middle of their songs, even when heard for the first time, which bore the listener into switching off. The bands that make it never allow this to happen. They have inspired lyrics, expressive musicianship, a sterling voice, unpredictable song structure, or hopefully a mixture of all or some. They will always have something that would arrest the listener’s attention until the next chord change/witty line/solo comes along. The next band was a good example.

Sketchbeat were another foursome, with their trumpet player taking on keyboard and guitar and even lead vocal duties at different stages of their formidable set. Their lead singer was like Simon Amstell when he was happy and nice in the Popworld interviews, except genuinely so. They played intelligent, funky indie encased in seventies cop-show riffs, glazed with harmonic backing vocals and filled with trumpety goodness.

And it’s not just the jazzy trumpet that stands them out. They’re not a band of gimmicks. That, or they’re a band of many gimmicks that work together perfectly. There’s a distinct willingness to experiment, try new things, develop songs that fly off to new directions, incorporate harmonica solos into tight lively rock, and combine blues and funk with indie pop that, coupled with a happy, innocent demeanour and a sense of fun, can’t help but make you smile. It’s rare to have these qualities in a band, not just these days but in any era. They oppose the technical deficiencies that usually go with youthful exuberance, instead proving to be the most accomplished set of musicians on the night. And the fact they can only get better as they mature makes them one of the best prospects in the land.

The same can’t be said for the next band. Frantic are a five piece of cool kids in hoodies playing more atmospheric, wallowing, techno inspired indie. Their first track ‘Change’ set their stall up as a more serious, moody band. It started as an average track, but built up, never exploding into life, instead simmering on the cusp, tightening its claws on the listener. It’s a song with intent and purpose, but unfortunately it’s followed up by what can easily be called ‘Generic Indie Song Version 1’. Disappointingly, the rest of their set tended to nod in this direction rather than the opening track.

Frantic are quite lively in the manner of most modern-day bands, but seem static and dreary compared to the Sketchbeats. Their sound is similar to a plethora of current NME darlings, from Go:Audio to Eight Legs and other average dross in between. What stood out in their sound was the weakness of the singer, which makes you wonder what criteria has to be filled in order to be the lead singer of an indie band - a jaunty hat and the inability to gain weight from excessive alcohol intake it seems. It’s concerning, as they’re not an isolated incident.

There are a large number of bands that could be considerably improved with more competent vocal work, but Once A Thief are not one of them. The Club COG regulars brought their excellent take on modern indie in the shape of the evening’s headliners. They played their catchy indie beats with verve and swagger in front of a packed Metro, and were in fine form, with their lead singer looking like a chubby Harry Potter and singing like Graham Coxon.

A criticism directed at Once A Thief is their lack of consistency, but rather than having poor songs, they actually maintain a rather high standard. This appears to be driven by their excellent drummer, the amusingly named Hitman, who never ceases to be impressive in every song. The source of this criticism may lie in the fact that their more average songs simply pale in comparison with the two heavy hitters in their catalogue: the awesome Satellites, and their penultimate song of this particular set, the blistering Sirens. Both songs arrest the crowd with their magnetic simplicity.

Once A Thief are always good value, delivering witty songs in a no nonsense style. Dedicating their song ‘Slow It Down’ to John Leslie was a nice piece of banter. At the end of Sirens, the crowded chanted for one more, signalling their approval of an excellent outing by the local lads, and another successful night for Club COG, who have been offered an opportunity to promote indie bands in Amman, in an effort by the Jordanian tourist board to make it the perfect country. I’m off to dump truck loads of salt into Lake Windermere. We’ll see who gets there first. Until next time,

Muhammad Odeh