Live Review
Vuvuvultures/Slaves/Skinny Girl Diet
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, London
November 28 2013
Words & photos: by Linn Branson
The three pop princesses – or ‘urban’ girls – who kick off proceedings are the anarchic punk Skinny Girl Diet, whose cute looks belie their feisty sound. Two years on from the Camden girls first getting together, they are now playing some impressive shows around town as well as releasing their debut 7” vinyl. Unfortunately, the crowd tonight are thin on the ground as frontwoman Delilah Holliday howls her way through the set, with bassist Amelia Cutler rocking the leopard print skirt and Adidas look, and supplying yelps and screams by way of accompaniment. While the photographers are out in earnest, punter numbers barely touch a dozen, and even by their third number the room is still largely empty. Which was a shame as this is a girl power trio who look set to advance even further during the coming year.
Everyone is there to see the Tunbridge Wells wide-boys who pitch up next, including DJ Huw Stephens. It doesn’t take them long to warm the crowd up – by now filling the room nicely – as they urge the crowd to move forward to the front. Their set-up may be just a guitar and a couple of drums, but what the two-man Slaves lack in member numbers and instruments, they more than compensate for in sound. Exuding vibrancy and ferocity with their garage punk they run through a set interspersed amongst the drum’n’bass with ribald jests – the song “for girl who can’t keep their knickers on”, namely ‘Black Rose’ being one – and a style that is somewhere between Itch and The Streets on speed. Forthcoming single ‘Where’s Your Car, Debbie?’ is introduced by vocals/drum-master Isaac Holman with the alleged story behind it: walking the young Debbie back to her car one night while out late in Tunbridge Wells, fearful of encountering the local legendary Bigfoot (I’d not take that tale too literally, mind). They look like they’re loving every minute of it, and that’s partly what makes Slaves such an enjoyable band to watch. The crowd respond in kind, and as they draw to a close on ‘Beauty Quest’, departing on the now customary ‘You are all slaves!’ line, it is likely that they have added further numbers to the every-growing Slaves fanbase.
Vuvuvultures, the night’s headliners, arrive on stage at around the same time that the male contingent of the audience appears to increase its presence at the front of the room. Not surprisingly as vocalist Harmony Boucher is an easy-on-the eye view, particularly dressed as she is tonight in alluring cropped top exposing midriff, and linked by bondage braces to fuel some unspoken fantasies. Given that the band are set in front of a red neon sign and shrouded in smoke, the effect, to say the least, is already enough to set pulses racing. The London four-piece have been steadily garnering a name on the live circuit, since the lead track – ‘Ctrl Alt Mexicans’ – from their debut EP first arrived. Tonight, its scattering guitars pound and pop hooks jump as the band kick off their eleven-song set on its catchy vibe that determines the pace for the night. Working on its electro-paced, synch path, ‘Safe Skin’ follows next to continue the pace. Boucher is a watchable androgynous presence, cutting vocal theatrics against posing movements, and body thrusts from side to side. ‘Stay Still, is a bouncy beat that leads a party tone, while 'The Strangler’ could almost be set to a sharp-edged tango beat; yet darker numbers like ‘I’ll Cut You’ (which employs vocal samples alongside some big rock chords) give evidence that there is more to their musical lyric arsenal that has a deeper, sinister underbelly. With glittering sound effects and some doom-riffed guitar work, Vuvuvultures are slick, punchy, and intriguing to say the least – if at times coming across as just a little too orchestrated to hold a sustained level of interest. But no doubt many males would disagree there.
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