The Bandits - London Astoria - 26/9/02
3/5
By: Toby L
Believe the stories - Merseyside is happening. Again.
And who'd have thought it, eh? For a time where a mock-Bronx accent, a partially inebriated swagger and good hair will reward you with a record-label (probably), there's something refreshing about the sight of scruffy Scousers The Bandits arriving into view. 'Nice one,' they proclaim after almost every single track in their skilfully-executed repertoire, which seems reminiscent at all times as the natural hybrid between The Doors and recent success-bound scallies, The Coral or The Zutons.
The Astoria may be slowly filling, but it doesn't dampen the atmosphere, which is at all times that of utter intrigue and delight as the newcomers parade through their on-stage festivities of all-involving organ, scrappy guitars and upbeat drum-sequences. Vocalist John Bandit indeed bobs up and down on the spot like a northerner possessed, his deep, dense vocals flourishing against the backdrop of trendily bizarre, 60s-esque odes displayed throughout.
However, similarly enthralling is their appearance, rhythm-guitarist Gary Bandit possessing a hat that Rob Harvey, frontman of tonight's headliners The Music, would surely gawp at in sheer envy, and drummer Swee (yes, really, Swee) Bandit the bearer of a haircut which Robin Askwith of ye olde 'Confessions Of...' 70s-porno flicks fame would have carbon-copied had he the chance.
By the time you remember that they're also creating the obscenely meaty thump of recent single 'The Warning', you're ensconced into a rich layering of immensely well-timed and calculated indie-cum-rock of the highest pedigree, the audience-response aghast by the undoubted confidence of the purveyors of such sound on-stage. With an ensuing, ska-tinged 80s-homage of a close, it's somewhat blatant that The Bandits' flair lurks within their unobtrusively keen knack of good-time alt-music, flavoured by the class of yesteryear.
Quite how all this will be allowed to progress or remain so en vogue by mid-2004, is yet to be seen. But, 'til then, as our heroes declare, tonight is a 'Nice one' in all senses of the term.
Artists in this article: The Bandits
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