Orphan Boy
Enterprise, London
03/08/2010

As attempts at rock star mystique go, announcing that, “We’re from the seaside. That’s all you need to know,” needs work to say the least. Still, these are swiftly swatted trifles, and certainly don’t detract from the fact that we’re in the company of the gentlemen responsible for one of the most rewarding singles of the year so far – and, make no mistake, ‘Popsong’ doesn’t disappoint in these surroundings. Ostensibly it’s the missing melodic link between ‘Lazy Line Painter Jane’ and the Inspirals’ ‘This Is How It Feels’, and it’s a startlingly rich, frequently poetic look at the perils and perversity of a new band dealing with Someone In The Industry (a topic they’re all too familiar with after 2008′s false start). And the fact that Orphan Boy replace one of its EMI references tonight with a withering mention of Beady Eye is nothing short of inspired.

Then again, it’s an inimitably inspiring set all round. Rob Cross may have something of the Jamie Cullum about him, which is slightly highlighted by several stints at the keyboard (though he proves to have an impressive range, leaping just as capably onto guitar and even, on the darkly brilliant opener ‘Anderson Shelter Blues’, unleashing some fierily fluid harmonica), but he glistens with an unexpected intensity, his vocals often calling to mind a more conversational Ian Curtis or a sanguine Alex Turner. Rhythm section Paul Smith and Chris Day, meanwhile, make punchy work of all the heavy lifting, providing a practically-Mani’n'Reni bedrock for ‘Untitled 9′ and a subtly limber chassis of crescendos on ‘Remember’, while, lyrically, they continually hit observational heights that the post-Libertinists shot unsuccesfully for and tackle the wider world with a frighteningly unerring passion, most evidently on the astonishing ‘Some Frontier’.

Evidently, Orphan Boy have approached adversity with electrifying abandon; widespread adoption as a much-loved proposition surely can’t be far behind.

Iain Moffat