Band of Skulls

The Cluny, Newcastle upon Tyne on Mon 8th Feb 2010

Band of Skulls are a band that seem to be in an ever diminishing genre. The Southampton 3 piece, play the kind of garage rock that hit the MTV masses in 2002/2003 with bands like the White Stripes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Datsuns, and the influence that each of the bands had on Band of Skulls in more than noticeable.

Despite this, the band have come under a huge surge in popularity, with the band being talked about on blogs around the world, helped by the fact that one of the bands tracks, 'Friends', featured on the very popular 'Twilight Saga' soundtrack, and the band also supported the hugely influential shoegaze rockers Spiritualized on several dates just before Christmas, giving the band a huge push of credibility.

Not that the band have to live of film soundtracks and supporting the likes of Spiritualized to get by, with the band more than capable of holding their own, both on record, and after their set tonight, when performing live.

Taking the stage just after 10, and performing for just under an hour, the band raced through much of their debut album, 'Baby Darling Doll Face Honey', released in March last year, and delivered a set which I thought was typical of the bands style.

With guitars sounding the 'garage rock' style very well, and the vocals of both Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson, complimenting each other with very similar voices, resulting a very tight, well rehearsed set, which can be seen as not very typical of the genre.

However, that's one of the issues with this band that I find difficult to deal with, despite their bluesy, gritty sound, it all looks, sounds and feels very stylised, and in some cases, sounds all a bit too much White Stripes, especially on the track 'Death by Diamonds', which could easily fit one of the earlier White Stripes records.

Live however, the tracks go down very well, and it?s easy to see why, with songs such as 'Death by Diamonds', 'I Know What I Am' and 'Friends' all with one line, hook choruses, creating a great interaction between the band and the audience, despite the band themselves not really connecting with their in-between song banter.

All three songs proved to be highlights in their set, especially 'Death by Diamonds', which also feels like the band are playing what they love, and enjoying their time just touring and playing their songs out live.

Following on from this UK tour, the band take to America to support one of their influences, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, which can only be good for their US exposure, before playing at the Coachella, and those fans on the other side of 'the pond', will be treated to garage and blues explosion, something that we don't see too much of in 2010.

article by: Anthony Hetherington

published: 11/02/2010 14:09



FUTURE GIGS


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