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Saturday 19 February 2011

Gig Review: Lemonparty Presents at the White Horse in Sudbury.




The first Lemonparty Presents was a lot of fun, and showcased some very high quality acts, so I went along to the second of these monthly gigs with high hopes. I don’t know if future shows will continue in this vein, but the first two have been stylistically themed: first we had a ska/ punk/ brasscore evening, plus Lemonparty’s own very entertaining funk rock; and on the second we had a funky/ hip-hop (ish) theme. I enjoyed the night, but it wasn’t quite up to the standard of the previous month’s offering.
First up were Paperstreet House, who opened with a Chilli Peppers cover that left me a little underwhelmed: they were quite loose, and the performance lacked conviction. However, once they moved onto their own material they hit their stride: their sound is more disco-punk than funk-rock, with a bit of a Talking Heads feel to it. At their best they were very funky, with a nice, wide, spacious fat-back groove. They quite often attempted to use feels that were a bit too busy though, or maybe just under rehearsed, and they simply weren’t tight enough to pull off everything they attempted. On their Facebook it says that their style of music is ‘shit’. This is very far from the truth, but it gives you an idea of their diffidence, which is pronounced, and funk is not a style that works well with a diffident delivery: if they had a bit more self belief, and laid down their grooves with a lot more conviction, this band would be excellent. As it was, I enjoyed their set, but I sometimes had to work quite hard to stay with them, and the deepest groove they played was on a straight rock number.
Up next was Kerr McIlwarith, who was advertised in publicity for the night as ‘sexy acoustic rap’: I can’t comment on the sexy, though it was certainly acoustic, but I didn’t hear him rapping. He has a nice line in funky acoustic strumming, with a very kinetic approach that suits a solo performer, particularly one that’s slotted into the bill between two electric acts. Vocally however he had a weak delivery, not helped by a mic technique that saw him frequently drifting off axis, to the extent that it was hard to get the sense of the songs. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with his vocal technique, but like Paperstreet House he seemed diffident. If he lost his reserve, and committed fully to his performance, I think he could be a compelling singer.
A lack of passion, or commitment to vocal delivery, is not an accusation that could be leveled at Newtons Apple. This four piece plays tight, funky rock, with a good groove and bags of soul. Their singer is everything you could want to front a band: good looking, self-assured, with a charismatic delivery, excellent vocal technique, and a convincing ballsy, bluesy style; plus she’s a decent electric guitarist. Why she wasn’t standing in the middle is a bit of a mystery, as she was definitely the centre of attention, her animated manner the very antithesis of what preceded her. The band were quite noticeably tighter live than on the tracks I’d listened to online before the show, which is a pleasing inversion of the norm. The drummer didn’t stick his head above the parapet much, but kept the whole thing tied together, whatever was happening in front of him. The three performers up front each had their own distinctive style, and seemed very natural, relaxed on stage and comfortable in their skin. The guitarist eschewed any rock star posturing in favour of a natural, no fronting geekiness (that’s meant as praise, I’m a proud geek myself), while the bass player, who purveys a nice line in soulful vocals herself, was extremely chilled out, interacting humorously with the audience. She was however, quite forgetful, and would occasionally throw her hands up with a shrug and sit out half a chorus until it came back to her, and there were a few moments when the band as a whole fell into a bit of a shambles. And tight as they were on the whole, there were moments in most songs where the time feel became a bit imprecise for a few bars: Newtons Apple are definitely the closest thing to the finished article I saw during the evening though. This band has so much going for it, in terms of good material, musically and visually engaging performers, and a distinctive sound and image, that I hope they put in the time to tighten up and iron out all the wrinkles. Because, if they’re willing to work for it, they definitely have the potential to go places.

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