Acoustic five piece Holm Street, playing their first set at Tut’s, manage to transform the legendary venue into their living room for a short set of acoustic balladry, pin sharp three part harmony and classical guitar noodling, as well as songs of love and loss from their three pronged songwriting team.
Which is by and large no mean feat for a band who seem to feel to privileged to even play the venue. Interesting textures provided by the bongo, hats and cymbals drum set up, coupled with the layered two female one male vocal set up provide a differential canvas seldom heard these days. With the songs they have the following that packed out the standing area it is fair to say that it will not be their last set at King Tut’s.
Starkly contrasted by Scheme Records’ Some Boy, with their Red Hot Chilli Peppers meets Pearl Jam (singing in a Scottish accent) grunge/funk, the volume gets cranked to granny killing level. With a new drummer, there are a couple of nuts and bolts that need a little tightening, however, frontman Al Wright is dynamic enough to cover those rhythmic holes with charismatic Poly-filler. It’s a strong set with some memorable songs and their following lap up every bar.
Frontman Tony leads Kizzy Star onstage for a blast of anthemic power pop. With influences ranging from Echo and the Bunnymen to Blondie, they tear through a set of well constructed pop songs. Epic synthesizers, guitars coated in delay and smothered in reverb produce a carefully constructed canvas against which Tony sets his lyricism to. Drummer Mick is the powerhouse that sets this act apart from other Killers-esque acts on the scene. Infusing metal drumming into a power pop act is definitely a formula that works for me and it is clear with just how professional these guys are that just how busy there are over the coming months is entirely justified.
(Photos: Louise Henderson)
www.holmstreet.com
www.myspace.com/thetenbobrecordings
www.myspace.com/kizzystar