The Landaus/Afterglow/Kick Riot - Adelphi, Hull

‘I’m sweating like a bitch’ was a common utterance echoing around The Aldephi - the nightmarish toilet sauna that is the most, like, punk venue Hull has to offer. Does this detract from the enjoyment? Well, not as much for the punters, but most of the bands look practically in agony on stage. At ‘2.40 for a pint of Labatts (albeit deliciously chilled Labatts) can the management not afford to stick a few fans on the walls? If only to prevent the musicians from collapsing on stage due to dehydration.

But expensive lager wasn’t the only thing comparable to a London club tonight. When the singer of Kick Riot hops on stage, kitted in a vest with a Doherty-shaped guitar, he’s like an uncanny amalgamation of the aforementioned Pete D and Hard Fi’s Richard Archer. Kick Riot’s MySpace page only too happily states that the band are influenced by The Libertines, and before they’ve played a single note, it wouldn’t be entirely unfair to dismiss them as yet another identikit pile of uninspired indie-toss. No rewards for being presumptuous tonight, then. As the first note is delivered to the fore, laden with funky bass and doubled up guitar lines, they perform with a degree of tightness that instantly turns heads and gets feet tapping. Singer Callum’s yelp is occasionally comparable to that of Kings Of Leon’s Caleb Followhill, especially on the Clash-esque ‘Penny For The Queen’. Although the songs aren’t hugely varied (bouncing bass lines/ch-ch-ch-ch rhythm guitar) they are pulled off with a certain amount of swagger and panache - ‘Nineteen’ being the highlight, sounding like The Long Blondes ‘Once and Never Again’ but fronted by a bloke. An unexpected success.

Afterglow are next up, perhaps filling the most awkward slot of the night. By now people have had a few drinks, it’s getting later than expected, and as it’s Friday night, there’s no telling of how many people intend on leaving the building in favour of a local indie-disco. It’s undeniable that Afterglow have all the confidence of a band who believe in themselves, and look set to take on the world. The band start off well, and earn tonight’s title of having the best introduction to a set with an incredible, rollicking drum riff. However, despite flashes of greatness (’Electric Eyes’ and a beefed up ‘City of Sin’) you get the impression that the stage antics seem to become increasingly forced. Toward the end the guitarist’s top comes off and he wades into the audience. If he was riffing, bending, pulling off and tapping like a motherf**ker (think Justin Hawkins when he was at the top of his game), this just might’ve looked incredible. Unfortunately, this wasn’t really the case, and the whole thing became borderline cringe worthy. A few exchanges of ‘get the Landaus on!’ reverberated through the audience, perhaps suggesting that Afterglow’s set is, at this point, one or two songs too long. That’s not to detract from the fact that Afterglow have promise, it just felt like tonight, they were trying too hard to whip the crowd into something they blatantly couldn’t be bothered to be. Or maybe that’s just us. We were drippin’ buckets by then.

Tonight’s heavyweights The Landau’s take to the stage next, clearly in no mood for mucking about. A very quick tune up later, and they’re straight into ‘We’re Not Making Fools Of You’. The Landau’s’ strength lies in their ability to craft songs with variation. One of the problems with tonight’s previous bands is this lack of variation, the rock-by-numbers ethos that permeates the sets of lesser bands. If ‘Sweet But True’ isn’t the best pop song by an unsigned band currently doing the rounds, then it wouldn’t be evident what is. “They need a proper producer!” remarks a nearby onlooker. A true statement; their songs take on a dimension live that isn’t captured on the low quality, grainy reproductions on their MySpace.

The tunes exude urgency (’Waste of Time’) anxious, biting melodies (’Behind The Scenes’) playful, walking bass lines (’Running’) and, at last, a successful vocal partnership (’Beat Around The Bush’). Once again though, it’s one of the new songs that steals the crown and prompts dancing. ‘Rules Of The City’, as has been mentioned in previous reviews, is the sort of disco stomper that has landed similar bands like Switches and Ripchord record deals. Undoubtedly it owes much to Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’, with the sped up, staccato stomp that leads into the chorus. Drummer Chris, it appears, has took the band into a direction littered with hi-hats and doses of funk. They might be mining this territory because it’s currently popular, they might not. Frankly who could care less when it sounds this good. They end with a cover of the Pulp classic ‘Disco 2000′, and as something of a backhanded compliment, it sounded comparatively naff (emphasize: comparatively) with their own material. Half the night may have gone by the time their set finishes, but the smiles on the faces of the audience show it was definitely worth it.

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