Something’s going on. It’s Sunday night in the occasional sweatpit that is Liverpool Academy and ¾ of the floor is filled with swaying arms to that perennial sing-along, Unchained Melody. The mood is somewhat charged like the Sunday before a Bank Holiday.
Well then thank fuck for Giant Drag.
Giant Drag are a two piece consisting of the rather talented and somewhat bearded Micah who has time in between rattling his drums to tinkle a synthesiser, and the startlingly skinny and mad as a box of frogs singer, Annie.
The duo open with a song called “You fuck like my Dad” and it’s clear that they are only getting away with it because they’re from LA and it's what we expect. After a trawl through several songs from recent album “Hearts and Unicorns” a wispish cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” and recent and astonishingly good single “Kevin is Gay” and we are left to behold a superlatively mad and quite incredible band. The My Bloody Valentine and PJ Harvey references have been worn to death but they are so true. Giant Drag are truly awesome.
After 30 minutes, two beers and the now slightly tedious DJ’s trawl through Tina Turner and Bros, the Cribs take to the stage. Rumbling through most of the “New Fellas” album, it’s clear that this band have every on stage dynamic down to a tee. Showing more energy than Battersea power station, they play “The Lights went out” with drummer Ross standing on his drums to punchout the backbeat. A quick run through the ballad to poseurs everywhere; ”Mirror Kisses” and a strange cover of Riot Grrrls finest “Huggy Bear” and we are presented with one of the best songs of last year the fantastic “Hey Scenesters”.
There is no faulting the show, thrown in with some fit inducing light displays and the crowd surfing yoof and you have quite a performance. The one drawback with this band, like The Strokes before them, is that they find it difficult to escape their own sound. It does become a bit repetitive with each song becoming the next. You feel this is what holds them back from the next step.
However this is nitpicking. The kids are alright.
