The Rumble Strips / The Little Ones / Pull Tiger Tail / Blood Red Shoes Birmingham Academy 2 Monday 28th May 2007

Good sound tonight. Rather random statement to start off with, but so many gigs are ballsed up by dodgy sound (either down to the venue or the bloke asleep at the mixing desk after sparking up a fat one and chatting to the roadies about that Motorhead gig in 1982). Tonight it was all as clear as bell. So well done Mr Soundman, whoever you may be.

Anyway. The music. Tonight was yet another NME tour. This time the 'NME Topman New Music Please Buy Our Magazine Oh Go One We'll Give You A Free White Stripes Single' Tour. I still buy the bloody thing though...mainly 'cos I've got into the habit of chatting to the newsagent dude every Wednesday. Sorry, the music, right...

I've reviewed all of the bands before (bar the first one), so I'll keep things snappy, pithy almost...whatever that means. Openers Blood Red Shoes (pictured above...with a punters head in the shot too...I'm such a pro)were a band I'd fancied seeing for a while and they were rather fine. Avoiding obvious comparisons with the White Stripes (boy/girl...guitar/drums...t'other way round in this case though) I'd pitch 'em at a more indie rock kind of place. Female Shoe Laura-Mary looks really sweet and innocent until she unleashes some mighty guitar work and rocky vocals. Little Steven (drummer Shoe) has more energy than the Duracell Bunny on speed (he actually came on during every other band's set tonight too to jig about or hit stuff) and adds a more urgent vocal delivery. Impressive.

Saw The Little Ones a while back at the Bar Academy (dodgy sound ahoy). Great fun, summer anthems, sweet harmonies (they still remind me of The Spinto Band) and better than I remember them being last time.

Next up...they're grrrrrrrrreat. Oh yes. Pull Tiger Tail are probably one of my favourite bands around at the moment. Let's Lightning, Mr 100 Percent and Animator are as classic a trio of tracks as you're likely to find (in a new indie-ish vibe anyhow). Newer track (newer to me anyway), Hurricane, has some lush Editors-ish guitar stuff on it. Yay!

Which just leaves us with The Rumble Strips. Third time I've seen them and they're just consistently ace. They're a sweeter Dexy's really...soulful, yearning, passionate and deserving of a much bigger audience than they're getting. Perhaps they're just too good. Motorcycle is being released again soon...so maybe the wider world will finally wake up to them. If not then I despair...really I do.

All round a bloody ace gig. Even met a nice man in the loo who wanted to wash my hands for me...he was one of those after shave selling dudes...no, I wasn't cottaging...you people have filthy minds.