Songs for North Laine

Launch of the NLCA benefit CD, February 2007

By Henry Bruce

It may have been freezing outside, but the temperature was certainly rising upstairs at the Albert pub on 6th February 2007.

The occasion was a live showcase to celebrate the release of a new CD compiled exclusively for the benefit of the North Laine Community Association and featuring 15 songs from local artists. The CD is being sold for a very reasonable £5, with all the proceeds going to NLCA.

Thom Gilbert

First up was Thom Gilbert, who wandered up to the stage and played five tunes, all of them quite folky.  Using just his voice and a single semi acoustic guitar, his songs had a dreamlike quality to them and despite no announcement of even who he was, let alone an acknowledgement that proceedings were about to start, he soon commanded the audience's attention.

His voice wasn't as strong as it might have been, but it was compensated for by his guitar playing and was reminiscent of Nick Drake - no bad thing at all. A dig at Starbucks (with the pleasing concept of its closure on account of a couple of fictionally 'found' dead rats) seemed to go down well with the youthful local crowd.

My new-found friend Pat and her colleagues from Snooper's Paradise, who had joined my table, gave me the impression that there was a lot of local support for tonight's venture. They don't generally see that much live music, but had read about the night in the Runner and had decided to come down and lend their support.

The Wonderfuls

The Wonderfuls certainly lived up to their name and for me they were definitely the highlight this evening, even upstaging the headliners. They didn't play for that long but all the songs were delivered with a raw energy and musical precision that was hard not to like. The sound was very Lenny Kravitz, with the guitarist making ample use of the array of foot pedals on the floor and they demonstrated their virtuosity on 'Hometown Blues', where the bass player takes up the harmonica (he also plays keyboards) and the drummer switched to tambourine. For a trio they pack one hell of a punch, in the same way that Mitch Mitchell, Noel Redding and Jimi Hendrix could - you are left wondering how they manage such a full sound! The fact that all three provide vocals helps. Tunes like 'Save your money don't push it down the drain' are hugely danceable. Check them out at their myspace website which they shamelessly plug at myspace/thewonderfuls.

Drookit Dogs

Like the Wonderfuls, Drookit Dogs are also a trio and also manage a very full sound. Vocally they come across a little like Ian Dury meets Damon Albarn, with very 'cheeky chappie' lyrics. The songs tend towards story telling - lots of staccato clipped guitars veering from an acapella delivery (where you could hear the words) to a thrashy noise (where you definitely couldn't) and back again. On 'The Local Shop' this generally works well before the song adventurously morphs into cod reggae, but I think that they need to spend more time on their lyrics (rhyming the Local Shop with the Dog and Duck anyone?), which sometimes tended towards the banal - the ones I could hear anyway.

But all this is being picky.

They finished the set with what I thought was their best song 'Brotherhood of the Unafraid' (?), which delivered a solid catchy hook. They had a good night and were loyally supported by some of their obviously growing fan-base who returned them for an encore; and there is no reason why they couldn't go far - they have a good stage presence and (like all the evening's artists) are certainly musically proficient.

[More information at: www.myspace.com/northlainebenefitalbum]

[Originally published in the 'North Laine Runner', No 185, March/April 2007]