Miss The Occupier play an intriguing blend of pop and dark rock. Unfortunately, they have a habit of dressing it up in jerky art-rock trappings. Everytime they are just about to soar like Blondie or fuck you up like the Pixies they feel the need to stick in some weedy picky riff that drops you down. It`s bloody annoying. They have the songs, but keep feeling to shoot themselves in the foot.
They are still a thoroughly entertaining live proposal, but with time they will be great. We hope.
It`s been ten years since Bis released their first album The New Transistor Heroes. So, are you asking yourself where the time went or wondering `is that all`? Over the space of that decade, Sci-fi Steve, John Disco and Manda Rin have managed to move from the first unsigned band on TOTP (the only?) to sneaky upstarts storming the Scottish Rock Hall Of Fame through the fire doors. It`s strange to look back and wonder just where they went from mildly amusing cutesy-pop to one of the truly generation defining bands (like, say, The Pastels or Fannies). From could only (and will) be big in Japan to a band that could hold their own in the rockin` stakes with such hairy-arsed greasers as Rocket From The Crypt?
What comes across the most tonight, in addition to the sheer energy (listen up indie kids) exuberance and poptastic melody, is just how ahead of the game Bis were. You might put the familiarity of the material down to, well, familiarity. But, as the show goes on you realise that their melding of angular rock and big pop hooks is exactly what you hear blurting out the radio day in day out. Just not done as well. Seriously, listen closer to those Kaiser Cheifs records next time.
But, hey, this is a reunion gig. (Let`s ignore Data Panik. Apparently, everyone else did. Which is criminal.) And, tonight Tut`s is fit to burst. And from the get-go tonight, the fit to bursting Tut`s crowd have decided that tonight, Matthew, they are going to be Bis. It`s the kind of sing along adulation normally only reserved for the likes of Mr Blobby Williams. They came here to have fun, and there ain`t no-one gonna stop them. There are the technical cock-ups and false starts to make you feel at home. These get cheered. In fact, there`s a part of you that suspects this is some piece of mega-rehearsed stage business. It`s all completely stomping, stonking and storming.
Chalk one up for the kids. Tonight we are Bisnation one more time.
//Tony Kiernan