±«Óătv

A new year has arrived and with it comes a whole load of expectant buzzed up young prodigies ready to take their places on the lower rungs of this summer’sĚý festivalĚý running orders. Johnny Foreigner play Liverpool care of the Levi’s Ones to Watch tour which by definition touts them as a serious contender for our attentions.

Wreaking with irreverence and soaked in lo-fi nihilism the semantics of the evening where clearly tossed away. The sparse crowd suitably soaked by now in adequate alcohol began to bounce against drum punches.

Unrelenting

A synthesizer lost somewhere on a cluttered stage drove a melody to the songs that everyone else involved seemed to abuse with wanton disrespect. Despite a fatigued start, the hard art-punk group pounded tracks like “The End And Everything After” and “Champagne Girls I Have Known” without much trouble.

By the time we reached the final track, This Band Is Killing Us, I was left agreeingĚýwith the song title and my white hankie was held limply aloft. The tempo is never restrained. The energy comes not in waves but an unrelenting torrent. The pressure builds and sustains.

Like a Bloc Party in a steroid fuelled rageĚý or a drunk Los Campesinos these guys play songs to fight to then regret remorsefully in poetry at leisure later. Maybe the new bass amp wasn’t broken in enough yet. They are probably dragging it behind the tour bus heading to a city near you.

The bands recording have been criticized before for failing to capture the tenacity of their live performance. Being edgy and unrelenting is a hard thing to bottle.ĚýYou can hear for yourself if you track the band down on MySpace or pick up their long player , Arcs Across The City,Ěý but you will probably want to catch them live I guess. Just remember the poor little bass amp that couldn’t though. If that’s what they do to amps imagine what they want to do to you.