Skint & Demoralised, Water Rats, London, June 18th
Skint & Demoralised played Water Rats in London on June 18th
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Monday, 22, Jun 2009 04:31
Chris Jefferies provokes the wrath of Matt Abbott's disdain for bad reviews.
"I'm gonna start with a poem, 'cos I'm a bit weird like that," Matt Abbott, Skint & Demoralised's frontman tells us before launching into a set that was as hit and miss as the acts that went before them.
But more on that later...
Third Light kicked off the evening with their powerful brand of straight-up rock, which was a real reward for those who turned up as early as 7:30. Ones to watch, these guys. Next up, Arthur Delaney played their final gig under their current guise. It takes quite a band to combine the View with Razolight and make it sound even remotely appealing, but somehow they managed it. Will Kevans was less impressive, however with his cheesy country stylings coming across more like Dolly Parton than his supposed muse Johnny Cash.
By far the most eccentric band of the evening, however, were the headliners and Abbott's spoken-word poems infused their set with great unpredictability. Once slated by channel4.com as the northern Scouting for Girls, Skint & Demoralised could be more aptly described as an indie-funk mash-up of the Cribs and Art Brut.
Upbeat and up-tempo, tracks such as Red Lipstick and This Song Is Definitely Not About You made a big impact on the modest crowd, but the size of the venue gave away the band's main cheat: Abbott was regularly singing to a backing track from a phantom female vocalist. This undermined the connection that he had struck up with the audience through casual banter about Twitter and Cheryl Cole. In a bigger venue, they may have got away with it, but in the cosy confines of The Water Rats, it was clear that they were embellishing their music.
Abbott made clear how badly he takes criticism, with a bitter poem about his spite for the aforementioned Channel 4 reviewer, so a few words of advice: don't take it personally, but you need to hire a backing vocalist. The frontman's unique lyrical style shows real promise, but he was carried through the choruses by the backing track and it was hard not to feel a bit cheated. This band could be something really special, but they need to keep their live sound organic.
Chris Jefferies