The Strangerz celebrated the release of their new single Hit The Ground with a packed out show at The Castle on Sunday night, debuting new songs and confirming their position as the most exciting new band in town. Support came from Diekaidie and Horse Mouth.
We weren't sure what we made of Horse Mouth and with the benefit of twenty hours or so of hindsight, we're still not sure. Make of that what you will. We're not sure they are either given their constant name changes, the latest from The Pips to Horse Mouth at the start of the year. One minute they're singing about the pollution of rivers by water companies, the next about making pies. Callum spends time rolling around on the floor, impressive gymnastically and somehow not smashing his head into the monitor and getting in the face of the front rows. We'd have to see them again to make our minds up, and there's plenty of bands that once is more than enough. So I guess that means we liked them.
Diekaidie are an interesting proposition. Their Twitter bio describes them as four drummers and an American (the American is Dianne Kaidie for those who are wondering where their name came from) yet they have no real drummer, just a drum machine and guitars and a small box of electro noise that Dianne controls with varying levels of certainty about what she's doing especially on their final song, which they seem to feel fell apart, but which sounded genuinely brilliant.
Unlike many bands they switch things around really well, three of them take lead vocals at different points, they have songs like opener Harold God where the backing track and guitars almost drown out the vocals and moments mid-set where everything is stripped down. It works really well as it creates an air of unpredictability that keeps the audience drawn in, even past the first two enthusiastic rows. And it's great to watch a band unafraid to take risks without creating something that doesn't make a lot of sense or fit together.
The Strangerz released just their third single Hit The Ground, the follow-up to Shut Up and Straight Gay Brother, this Friday and they've packed out The Castle on a Sunday night, no mean feat for any band in these austere times on a cold wet evening. There's a real sense of anticipation amongst the crowd and Martha, Tom, Shannon and Will deliver a masterclass in invigorating, exciting punk music that's liberally sprinkled in more accessible pop tones. It's a superbly infectious combination that they make look so effortless and natural.
Songs don't hang around. In just over thirty five minutes they race through twelve of them and have the time to add a Happy Birthday to an initially embarrassed Shannon who's celebrating their twenty-first birthday the next day. Each one has a personality of its own, and with Martha's star quality at the helm, interacting with the audience and Tom and Will on guitar and bass in equal measure, they avoid the trap many young bands fall into of simply repeating the same trick over and over. They have songs that hurtle along at breakneck speed, barely pausing for breath and are out the door before you realise they've started and others that already feel like potential big singles that will catapult them forwards.
Alfonso is wonderfully tongue-in-cheek, a one-line kiss off chorus of the title. New City New Car sees Tom share vocals in a call and response section while Martha runs around the stage. A brand new song they wrote last week sounds like something an established chart act would put out there. The two singles - Shut Up, accompanied by screaming that would put Wet Leg to shame, and Straight Gay Brother - have all the frantic energy of a band making their first steps but are a controlled onslaught that hits the target each time. Hit The Ground gets two airings, the first time Martha joins us in the audience and lets their producer Lewis take over vocals for the chorus and he joins them on stage as they finish the encore off with it.
Make no mistake, The Strangerz are brilliant now, but the potential is endless. They're the best new band in Manchester. By some considerable distance. Sorry, lads.
They play Liverpool Jacaranda (April 13, supoorting Maggie Witch), Intermission Festival Manchester (22), Manchester Night And Day (28, supporting Shonen Knife) and Manchester Retro (June 3)
Diekaidie are on Twitter.
Horse Mouth are on Facebook and Twitter.
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