Yuck
The Lexington, London
27/10/2010

It seems that being a geek is the ultimate in cool these days. The Social Network – a film about the nerds who set up Facebook – is a global box office smash, comedians such as Michael Cera, Charlyne Yi and Dave Gorman are applauded and lusted after despite looking like geography teachers, and Bill Gates is still a multi-billionaire.

As Yuck take to the stage at The Lexington, they look as though they could fit this demographic. With the appearance of a group of outcasts from a high school common room, the band take their positions on the stage and without a hint of insecurity tear into their first track, ‘The Wall’. And though they seem unassuming, their material is far from meek; the crowd bobbing along to the opening track. The night cracks on with ‘Holing Out’ setting the place alight and the later more upbeat ‘Georgia’ really gets people moving. Between tracks the comic musings of drummer Jonny Rogoff’s – who even sounds like Michael Cera – raise a chuckle with his comments that the bodies and merchandise of the band will be available to purchase after the show.

Closing effort ‘Rubber’ shows the powerfully atmospheric side of Yuck’s music with lead vocalist Daniel Blumberg’s powerful voice shining yet also taking a back seat to the incredibly powerful music that would sound ideal scoring an emotional movie scene. But perhaps most impressive track is newie ‘Milkshake’ which is played for the first time outside the recording studio tonight. The fact that so many people find themselves singing along by the end of it is a testament that not only can these geeks perform, but they can write the hits to boot.

Seamus Duff