In The City – Day 3

In The City – Day 3

Oh. Goodness. Clearly The Fly is not a hardcore as we’d like to think these days, because the thought of staying at home with a cup of tea is hugely more appealing than that of trekking out into the soggy Manchester night in search of new music for the third night in a row. After a quick self-inflicted pep talk, though (“only happens once a year”, “think of tomorrow’s glorious lie-in” etc.), we manage to stir ourselves enough to at least get out the front door.

Silver Gospel Runners, unfortunately, don’t make the effort seem worthwhile. ITC this year seems to be saturated with bands like this; who choose to harness trumpets and female, floaty backing vocals with startlingly mediocre results, and we’re getting rather bored of them, all told. Simon Lynge’s smooth voice and catchy, polished songs get proceedings back on track somewhat, but we’re in search of something stirring…

Acting on a tip off, we take in Leeds duo The Old Romantic Killer Band, and glad we are that we bothered; as their bluesy vocals and fuzzy guitars put a spring back into our gig-going step. Fighting against the slightly stuffy atmosphere that surrounds the majority of ITC shows, the singer’s in the crowd, he’s handing instruments round to random audience members… Hell, the bloke even gets up on the bar and starts playing his guitar with a pint glass. Great to see a bit of showmanship, and even better that they have the tunes to back it up.

Over at Chicago Rock Cafe, Paul Thomas Saunders is presenting a much more chilled, but no less affecting, performance. His whisky-soaked vocals belie his years, and the understated delicacy of his songs is a lovely treat. If you don’t mind, The Fly is just going to gloss over Slagerij…. Their bog standard pop-punk/ ska-lite doesn’t need much comment. Equally, there’s little to say about Morton Valence, other than that the dual boy/girl vocals are pleasant enough and the most exciting thing about them is that the lead singer’s wearing a jaunty sailor hat. The incredibly youthful looking Egyptian Hip Hop certainly get the prize for best haircuts of ITC 2009, but also, considering the hype that’s surrounded them, they’re also one of the biggest disappointments. Meeting somewhere halfway between The Ramones and MGMT, their sound isn’t quite fully formed enough yet to impress.

And so In The City draws to a close for another year. The Fly will remember this one as definitely the most tiring, but also the most impressive, because we’ve discovered a fair few bands with the potential to actually go much further. If you’re feeling inclined, we’d suggest you look up Gallops, The Neat, Crystal Fighters, Dirty Goods and The Old Romantic Killer Band for your new music fix. As for me, my work here is done and the kettle’s firmly on.

Molly Jones