Echo & The Bunnymen: The Roundhouse, Camden

This past Monday, Echo & The Bunnymen played the first of their two London dates this month starting at the Roundhouse

Being forty years into their career, the case for a self-congratulatory greatest hits tour would be more than fair. In Camden Town, the scouse legends reignited a fire we’d not seen since they supported James at Brixton Academy in 2013 and blew them off the stage.

It was more than just finding form, more than proving a point, this, this was something celestial. ‘Show of Strength’ raged a war so colossal that souls were shaking! Will Sergeant’s guitar licks from became sirens of doom to echo through eternity.

The crowd favourites kept coming, but not as we knew them. ‘Flowers’, an elegant rock ‘n’ roll number on record became a death-defying storm of Brian Jonestown Massacre via Hendrix. ‘Bring on the Dancing Horses’ shimmered in all its glory, as per. However, a sense of searching lurked, it had the feel of it was being created in the studio there on the stage. The bands made it soar, striving to find new avenues of psychedelia, and crucially, it had that youthful demand to be heard. All the while, Ian McCulloch stood resplendent in the darkness reminding everyone who the mortals are.

It culminated in the greatest performance of ‘The Cutter’ ever. The current political climate and 2two years locked away boiled over into a joyously toxic display. Vitriolic but never divisive, they rewrote book on what it is to be a great band in those four minutes.

Quite how they match this showing we don’t know. We do know we’ll be at Shepherds Bush Empire on the 22nd to find out!

*Banner image courtesy of Harvey Wah Wah

Red Rum Club - Matador

The Liverpool six-piece released their debut album 'Matador' on the impeccable Modern Sky label (The Blinders & Calva Louise) earlier this month.

It's a real album of two halves. The free-flowing euphoria of the first half screams single after single before, sadly petering out. Nevertheless, their peers will have to go far to match the anthem-heavy first 6 songs.

'Angeline' is a tour de force of their home city Liverpool. Vocally, frontman Fran Doran has channelled The Zutons' Dave McCabe whilst the guitarists have found their inner Will Sergeant. The most striking aspect comes from the Midlands though. The Dexys inspired soul is warmingly rousing.

The use of brass is key to the album’s success and failures. It adds richness to 'Would You Rather Be Lonely?' and 'TV Said So', giving the true stand-out moments. The former takes the crisp soul of The Style Council and the playful side of The Coral's early work on this tale of battling loneliness. It's a song, so empathetic in nature, it could only come from the good people of their great city. 'TV Said So', continues on a similar vein James Skelly-esque vocals and the sumptuous guitar licks and wobbles.

However, in the latter stages, the brass becomes overpowering and disjointed on the Latin and Mexican grooves of 'Calexico' and 'Casanova'. The every-man soul and pop prowess disintegrate but, you cannot deny that Red Rum Club is shackle-free and willing to take chances.

Ultimately, 'Matador's cons are so few they pale into significance. This album is so well stocked in bangers that, it has the potential of a two-year run on the album charts.