I
mentioned “company, both onstage and off”; following a sunny run down
the M4 and a wander over the temporary bridge after parking up at the
nearby Thekla car park (the usual Prince Street road
bridge being closed for extensive-looking repairs – note for future
reference), I wandered into the Louisiana’s downstairs pub, immediately
catching sight of the Get Inuit boys. They recognised me, which is
always nice, and I joined them for a brief catch-up
and chat about their US adventures, and the pros and cons of Record
Store Day (the previous day, ignored by me this year)! Eventually
wandered upstairs to check out openers Soeur, a new Bristol trio fronted
by a couple of guitar-toting femmes fatales, knocking
out some hard and heavy, hair-swirling power chord riffery and
channelling the likes of Veruca Salt in the process. Set closer, the
aptly-named “Tough” was the best of their short set, a loud-quiet-loud
“Lithium”-alike, which after a creepy slow-burn middle
8, saw the girls jumping offstage for some primal screams into the mic
(also set up offstage in the front rows), and some manic whirling about,
one such leading to me getting caught plum on the chin with a guitar
head! Well, I guess if you stand too close
to the fire, you’re gonna get burned now and then...!
Took
a spot down the front, stage right (the other side to the ubiquitous
Jeff) whilst Get Inuit set up. My mate Rich Craven, at the NEC in
Birmingham for ELO tonight, had posted a pic up on Facebook
of their stage set-up, with the comment, “ELO – not long now”, so I
retorted by posting a pic of the Get Inuit boys plugging things into
things and generally milling about onstage, with the legend, “Get Inuit –
not long now...!” Sure enough, it wasn’t, as
the boys burst into strident, poppy life with usual opener, the yelping
and joyfully amphetamine-fast “Mean Heart”, followed by the swampy,
creepy “I Would”. Jeff and I were shaking our booties from the outset,
and got an early name-check from vocalist Jamie
thanks to our front-of-house dancing. A pounding “Cutie Pie” channelled
Buddy Holly through a Vaccines filter, and following a spritely new
number, Jamie remarked, “that was a brand new song, but let’s face it
they probably all are [to you]”, to which some
wag down the front (okay, me...!) retorted, “not to me and Jeff!”
The
sound, probably set up for Vant’s heavier and screamier riffery, wasn’t
great tonight, and Jamie’s more nuanced, idiosyncratic vocals were
often submerged in the mix, but the boys powered through
gamely, their ebullient enthusiasm more than making up for it. “My Oh
My”’s doo-wop harmonies were followed by the more expansive
“Barbiturates”, this slower-burn number giving the angular Jamie more
scope for some vocal gymnastics; then the gabbling, rampant
new-waveisms of “Pro-Procrastinator” saw me doing some Logan-like
arm-swings in the slower middle-8 section! “I Am The Hot Air”, the most
“pop” and Candyskins-like number in their current catalogue, closed out a
breathless vignette of a set, bookended by Jamie’s
final comment of, “we’ll be down by the merch stand giving you puppy
dog eyes!”
Got
my breath back as the small room then filled up considerably for the
headliners; I gave Vant a couple of numbers but found them formulaic
post-grunge Nirvana copyists (although probably not as
blatant as Bloody Knees). The kids went mad for them though, a jumping
mosh in full swing as I extricated myself from the crowd. Hey, no
accounting for taste... Grabbed a few quick words of mutual appreciation
with Get Inuit guitarist Ollie downstairs before
hitting the road, back home for an entirely sanitary 10.30. That’s 3 in
the books for Get Inuit in the last 6 months, and here’s to many more
from this eminently promising Summery, powerpoppy band of young bucks!
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