| After
a pause for further inebriation, Kicker came on stage, Phil doing his best
club secretary impression as he asked for glasses to be returned to the
bar and later, as time was called, asking desperately from behind his kit
for more alcohol. The Kicker set just got better as it went on, mixing the
singles with a taste of the forthcoming album and a Yo La Tengo cover. A
highlight was ‘Doris Dear’ which shares only its increasing melodic
urgency and spiralling sense of paranoia with some late 80s indie hit, with
which it risks being unfairly compared. They played an encore, partly as
this is the last show for at least three months, including the magisterial
‘Since You Left’. In every great set, there’s a moment of
transcendence, a pause-your-life-at-this-point moment, when you realise
why you spend so much time and money and emotional capital on music; you
got it tonight in Kicker’s version of the Northern soul tune, as the
band slotted together in some rhythmic nirvana while Jill pushed herself
to hit those high, hurting notes that carry the sense of love and loss.
Tonight was one of the reasons why we’re not all just worker drones
in section 7G. Awesome.
Kicker set list: One Summer/ New Day Fresh Start/ Get Rid Of Him/ Leave A Light On/ Duet/ Blue/ Don’t You Listen/ Chancifer/ No More Tears/ Something To Do (Yo La Tengo) / Doris Dear/ On Your Floor/ Boy Have You Got It/ Since You Left Live review March 2004, soundsxp.com |
| Here she
comes again with vodka in her veins… It’s Friday and the Winter
Sprinter finale, but throughout the day, reports have been reaching us that
suggest all may not be quite right on the night. Tompaulin have had to cancel
due to a bereavement, The Loves are two band members down; Catrin’s
gone to see Justin Timberlake and Pnosni is er…
Kicker have been reduced
to a boyband three-piece, because singer Jill has the lurgey. But never
fear, despite not having the extra edge of Soul that Jill brings, Kicker
sound fantastic. Hurrah! Drummer Phil takes over main vocal duties, his
voice deep and croony, reminiscent of Lawrence from Felt. Adding to the
Felty-ness is Ben’s sparkling guitar, sometimes jangley, sometimes
West Coasty country rockin’. On bass is Andy, his missus, Sarah,
is fiddling with a digital camera, trying to capture some Kicker action
on moving film. When she shouts up at the stage for camera advice, Andy
says, ‘I’m a bit busy right now.’ And so he is, adding
fuzzed-up bass to the songs, creating bundles of buzzing indie loveliness.
This is great, things are looking up. Live review January 2004, Kitten
Painting |
|
The bill needs to some speedy rearranging after Tompaulin have to withdraw and Kicker also spend 24 hours regrouping after singer Jill goes down with flu. Their soulful indie-pop doesn’t seem naturally to fit the skill set of the power-trio but as a three-piece they manage to seize triumph from potential disaster as Phil becomes a Don Henley-style singing drummer for the night and the band produce a compelling Creedence-type choogling (with occasional flashes of Gene Clark lyricism). Last track ‘On Your Floor’ is a killer Velvet Underground meets Wedding Present gallop that is a suitably sweaty climax to a surprisingly good set. From their looks of relief afterwards, I doubt that Jill’s position is under serious threat. Live Review January 2004, soundsxp.com |