Strike of 59, Camden Underworld
This gig was at The Buffalo Bar, Highbury, London and not as above.
A free gig is always a treat, especially on a cold and wet Friday night. Plus the fact this show was also a release gig for the NOT KATIES new EP, things were set up for it to be a cool evening indeed. A gig at The Buffalo Bar is a new thing for me and it was a nice surprise to find that it’s a lovely intimate venue (only about 100 capacity) but also, the place has a really nice sound for somewhere so small and not especially known, to my knowledge, for hosting gigs. As it was an ‘invite only’ sort of event and a CD release show there was a very party like atmosphere, on top of this, free drinks were being dished out by those lovely folk at Deck Cheese, top stuff.
The increasingly popular STORIES AND COMETS were first to play tonight and blasted out their post-hardcore-emo-whatever-you-want-to-call-it stylings. I wasn’t that impressed when I saw this band in December, and to be truthful I’m not a particularly partial to their MP3s I’ve heard. But tonight I enjoyed their set more than I expected to. Big chunky riffs preceded by mellower clean riffs juxtaposed with gutsy screams help S&C create their powerful sound which is winning them fans all over the place and turning them into a very popular band in hardly anytime at all. What S&C seem to lack though is any sort of originality in an already fully saturated genre; at times the predictable structures and screams do sound a tad clichéd. However if you give the people what you want you find yourself in demand and S&C are very much so. The only major fault in their set was the severe lack of crowd interaction, otherwise they performed well. (6)
NOT KATIES took to the stage next and knocked out their South-Coast pop-punk to a very fine standard. It was new guitarist Nick’s first show and the bands first of the year. I was wondering how confident and tight they would be, all I can say is that they didn’t disappoint on that front. NK put on an entertaining show and were the only band of the night to get the crowd not only moving but singing along. Their new material must get a mention as I think it really is much better than the majority the older stuff. Again, NK aren’t the most original band on the scene right now, but when you have good, solid material and can pull it off live with ease and finesse, then who cares! 2004 is being tipped as a revival year for pop-punk and NK are certainly in the right place at the right time to take advantage of this, they also have the ability to do it more than well. (7)
Why STRIKE OF 59 headlined I don’t know. They came on a long time after NK as well and the wait wasn’t really worth it. S59 aren’t bad though, I’d just heard a lot of hype about them and was expecting something really great as they went on after NK. The female-fronted ska-punk band draws obvious similarities to NO COMPLY but mainly due to the gutsy singing style and appearance of their front-woman as they don’t have any metal-esque riffs and no brass in sight either. When S59 play their ska influenced songs it is when they really shine; they have a nice laid back edge to them and are generally just better at it than when they play their punkier tracks which, at times, sounded a bit scrappy for my liking. They are off on tour later this spring so it’ll be interesting to see how they develop as a band, as they have a good foundation to start from. (5)
A fun night overall; a nice chilled atmosphere in a nice intimate venue led to a generally nice evening out. The Buffalo Bar hopefully should get used more as a venue as I was really impressed with it. I was pleasantly surprised by S&C, NK showed themselves as being a force to be reckoned with this year and in S59, I got to hear a cool new band. The complimentary Jagermeister shots were also a nice touch top off a good show.
Mike Frankal
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