Protest songs that we already agree with
The Indelicates (Club Vertigo), 2008-05-27, The Cellar, Oxford
Of course I'd heard of the Indelicates before you. I discovered them in a purely mechanical way by searching for "band of 2006" ten days into 2006. It was some time later that I decided to be shamelessly enthusiastic about them: specifically, as soon as I heard the title of their self-aware and spiteful song 'Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die'.
The Indelicates get credit for intelligent lyrics: they're certainly clever. Like the Auteurs (in fact very like the Auteurs) the words don't always stand up to close examination but they're sung with ample bile. And though the targets aren't well-aimed they're deserving: anti-Americanism, post-feminism and cultural infantilism. Oh, the music? Driven pop which exists to be a substrate for the lyrics. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call them a Black Box Recorder tribute band: Simon (geetar) shares with Luke Haines a whispered speaking voice; Julia (keyboard, flute) out-plums Sarah Nixey.
At last they played in Oxford, at the university indie night in the Cellar, a basement which would qualify as a toilet venue if the toilets were ever working. I was wearing the 'Last Significant T-Shirt To Be Worn In Rock'n'Roll' (a birthday present from juggzy); Simon Indelicate wore a stars-and-stripes guitar strap and shirt, reminding me how I failed to buy one anywhere in London in 2003. invisiblechoir described the show as an 'endearing shambles', which surprised me: I thought they were tight and aggressive.
Opening the show and the album with 'The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock'n'Roll' isn't just bold, it's knowing - knowing how pathetic that statement will look as just another song in my iTunes. This band still think rebellion and revolution and the NME mean anything! To their credit, they manage not just sarcasm (spite) but irony (arch). Is 'Julia, We Don't Live in the 60s' ("We've never had it so good") sincere or ironic? I think it's both. The beauty of detachment is never having to explain yourself.
Srsly, who cares about pop music? Who gives a damn? Their words and their attitude make me laugh and make me feel superior. They're an evening's entertainment. Win.
Set list: The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock'n'Roll / Sixteen / America / Stars / New Art For The People / Fun Is For The Feeble Minded / Unity Mitford / Better To Know / Julia, We Don't Live In The '60s / Our Daughters Will Never Be Free / encore Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die / Heroin / We Hate The Kids
Of course I'd heard of the Indelicates before you. I discovered them in a purely mechanical way by searching for "band of 2006" ten days into 2006. It was some time later that I decided to be shamelessly enthusiastic about them: specifically, as soon as I heard the title of their self-aware and spiteful song 'Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die'.
The Indelicates get credit for intelligent lyrics: they're certainly clever. Like the Auteurs (in fact very like the Auteurs) the words don't always stand up to close examination but they're sung with ample bile. And though the targets aren't well-aimed they're deserving: anti-Americanism, post-feminism and cultural infantilism. Oh, the music? Driven pop which exists to be a substrate for the lyrics. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call them a Black Box Recorder tribute band: Simon (geetar) shares with Luke Haines a whispered speaking voice; Julia (keyboard, flute) out-plums Sarah Nixey.
At last they played in Oxford, at the university indie night in the Cellar, a basement which would qualify as a toilet venue if the toilets were ever working. I was wearing the 'Last Significant T-Shirt To Be Worn In Rock'n'Roll' (a birthday present from juggzy); Simon Indelicate wore a stars-and-stripes guitar strap and shirt, reminding me how I failed to buy one anywhere in London in 2003. invisiblechoir described the show as an 'endearing shambles', which surprised me: I thought they were tight and aggressive.
Opening the show and the album with 'The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock'n'Roll' isn't just bold, it's knowing - knowing how pathetic that statement will look as just another song in my iTunes. This band still think rebellion and revolution and the NME mean anything! To their credit, they manage not just sarcasm (spite) but irony (arch). Is 'Julia, We Don't Live in the 60s' ("We've never had it so good") sincere or ironic? I think it's both. The beauty of detachment is never having to explain yourself.
Srsly, who cares about pop music? Who gives a damn? Their words and their attitude make me laugh and make me feel superior. They're an evening's entertainment. Win.
Set list: The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock'n'Roll / Sixteen / America / Stars / New Art For The People / Fun Is For The Feeble Minded / Unity Mitford / Better To Know / Julia, We Don't Live In The '60s / Our Daughters Will Never Be Free / encore Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die / Heroin / We Hate The Kids