It’s a tall order. Reaffirm my faith in live music following Interpol’s apology for an excuse the previous night. Would these 3 Liverpool lads be up to this onerous task?
Things don’t start too well either, with support The Casuals… well, we’d best draw a veil over them. Suffice to say, the music you’re hearing in your head after reading their name is exactly how they sound.
Hopes weren’t exactly high after that – only a vaguely-remembered single whose good-natured bounciness was enough to inspire me down to the Cab this evening. This didn’t prepare me for a show which scaled the heights in every respect – from the opening number’s vast interplay between guitarists it’s clear that we had a supremely talented trio onstage. However, any thoughts of a math-rock fest are quickly dispelled. As well as more obvious references like Big Flame and Bogshed, there are definite throwbacks to Laeto and Late Night Foreign Radio in my head. But there are also a raft of tunes which are only separated from regular pop by their off-kilter time signatures – doubtless partly inspired by the scene from which they take their name.
There’s also a Minutmen cover thrown in here, but enough of their influences. HCdP have a vast set of songs which vary from the manic rush of ’Shipwreck’ to the shoutalong ‘What’s My Name’, all delivered at maximum speed and with a toe-tapping hip-wrenching groove. There’s also banter aplenty – self-effacing references to their poor singles track record, as they launch into #126 hit ‘Sometimesitsbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachotherforeachother’, and other songs about “punching people from the bible in the face”, and “accidentally burning things down”. Take all that and some giving-as-good-as-they-get banter with the boisterous audience and you have not only the best show I’ve seen all week, but quite possibly a contender for Gig of the Year.
more Hot Club de Paris photos on Flickr
