- Elvis Perkins @ Scala, Sep 22nd.
- FREE: Miike Snow, Totally enormous Extinct Dinosaurs @ Cargo, Aug 21st.
Review: The Strange Boys @ Barden’s Boudoir, Aug 12th.
Posted by: nick
The Strange Boys arrived in the UK yesterday on part of a mammoth tour to support their debut album ‘The Strange Boys and Girls Club’ which is one of the year’s best records thus far according to us. The band thrilled a packed out audience in Barden’s Boudoir including the pudding bowl haired Cribs twin and the tall half of The Big Pink.
Front man Ryan Sambols voice isn’t for everyone but we love his Dylan esque whines around these parts and were curious to see how they would stand up live. Let’s not drag the suspense out and say the answer is: brilliantly. He’s undoubtedly one of the coolest front men we’ve set eyes on in a while. A cheeky smile, squinted eye, bluesy guitar riffs to match the best of them and a sweet vocal that seems to come with absolutely no effort at all.
Ryan is ably backed up by brother Phil on bass, Greg Enlow on second guitar and the aptly named Matt Hammer providing the relentless rhythm. The Strange Boys play bluesy rock of yesteryear with a swagger and musicianship that exudes cool. The audience respond with delight, young girls and more seasoned moshers alike flail to their groove.
Songs like single ‘Woe Is You and Me’, ‘A Man You’ve Never Known’ and ‘For Lack Of A Better Face’ hit the nail firmly on the head. When blues-rock is played with this much passion and charm it’s hard to think of any type of music that tops it. The band could be accused of sounding samey across their set but if it ain’t broke! ‘Should Have Shot Paul’ sticks in the head as the best of the bunch, it’s over as swiftly as it begins but it’s laid back riff lingers in the memory.
The band endures several stage invasions to play an hour set which, when you consider that most of their songs are sub three minutes means around twenty songs which, is about the same number of dates they’ve played in the past twenty days. The Strange Boys evidently don’t do things by halves and they’re not done yet with a string of UK dates coming up including a few more in London. Lucky us.
Look out for a Music Mule interview with Ryan coming soooooooon.
more dates: The Strange Boys @ The Windmill, Aug 18th.
mp3: The Strange Boys – Should’ve Shot Paul
