Jul 09 2009 11:53 am,
Hockey/Chew Lips/Dimbleby And Capper
Levi's Ones To Watch 5 Night Revue @ The Vibe Bar, London
09/07/09
Laura Bettison aka Dimbleby And Capper is like Alabama Worley from True Romance as she soars through her bluesy synth set with coy seduction. Like a soundtrack to a dark dream, Laura, clearly inspired by bands like The Knife exceeds live reputation tonight, her angular stage performance heightened in the white Venetian masks worn by her band. She introduces ‘Kissed Me’ cryptically saying "this song is about nothing" and jolts around animatedly, the flush in her cheeks leaking out into her bottle-pink hair.
Girls rule the evening and Chew Lips frontpixie Tigs does not let the side down. She struts and croons her way through the throbbing beats of new single ‘Salt Air’ and exhales deeply into the rousing ‘Solo’ with lungs so full they need to be anchored like balloons. What she lacks in size she makes up for with gargantuan warbling and passionate yelps, aided by electronic noise-makers Sanderson and Watkins who create a unique backdrop of layered synth and Casiotone beats. They face each other, locked in some sort of digital battle and Tigs jumps into the crowd, crawls on the floor and thrusts her limbs emphatically. A hard act to follow.
Hockey don’t need to win anyone over tonight. The audience are lip syncing along before baby-faced Benjamin Grubin even starts his musical tirade against work and failure in ‘Work’ and ‘Learn to Lose’. Dressed in vests and fraying scarves the boys from Portland have a dusty, beaten rock star vibe not unlike Steve Tyler or Keith Richards. But these are songs to share milkshakes over and they encompass a youth and Americanness which places them somewhere in between Hanson and Bruce Springsteen. Grubin tickles the crowd into a frenzy with his wide joker-smile and vocals that range between half-baked harmonies and skate-shoe rap. Grubin explains, "I wrote this when I was growing up in NYC and I wanted to be black," before launching into the very matter of fact track ‘I Wanna Be Black’ whilst child-like grinning and double-gripping his mic like the control stick of an arcade game. The audience are captivated and The Fly even spots a dishevelled-looking Alex Zane rocking out among the admiring faces. There is lots of flashy guitar from Brian White and Ryan Dolliver on keys and synth steals the limelight sometimes with electronic hooks fit for a southern-fried twilight zone. Grubin takes the pace down donning a Dylanesque harmonica holder and acoustic guitar for a song which points to his song writing skills and then slam-dunks pop trophy ‘Too Fake’, taking their kitchen-sink realism and blue-jean rockabilly into inter-galactic realms.
Shelley Jones
