Tokyo Police Club / Destroy Cowboy / The Indigos Barfly Birmingham Wednesday 4th July 2007

A decent crowd for a slightly soggy Wednesday evening saw openers The Indigos put on a solid performance of post punkish (I bet you were wondering when I was going to slip in the old post punk reference into another review eh?) indie rock. They've got some decent tracks, engaging lyrics and frontman Jimmy has the kind of voice that really suits this kind of music (ie slightly narked at the state of the world...a feeling that I can totally relate to). Whilst I'd have liked a little more vocal interplay with Dan (backing vocals and lead guitar), they impressed me enough to want to catch them again when I get the chance.

Destroy Cowboy put on a similarly strong show. I've seen their name around quite a bit (there's a sticker of theirs just above the urinals in the Bar Academy...just above head height in you're interested...why would you be...unless there's some bizarre urinal sticker spotting club out there...maybe there is...sort of like the Panini of the urinal world...) but I'd never seen them until now. Another slight vocal quibble...I'd have liked the lead vocals a tad louder as sometimes the music overwhelmed the words a little. When they really found their 'groove' (on tracks like the The Prize) they've got the kind of anthemic power that could well see them fitting into bigger venues.

Headliners Tokyo Police Club have been generating a fair degree of press lately and, judging by the enthusiastic reception of a hard core legion of fans, it's starting to translate into a bit of a following. You can't help but notice a similarity with The Strokes, but they've got more more 'artrocker' vibe going on than Julian Copacobanacasablancooompalomablanca and co. I particularly liked the bit when various members of the band starting banging 7 flavours of shite out of the drums. I'm a big fan of the old instrument swapping/ritual abuse malarky. There was a lot of that playing your guitar down the neck so it sounds really high stuff going on too (I'm sure these notes have names but I have no idea what they are...I'll plump for C sharp 'cos it sounds convincing) and the kind of energetic performance that makes you wish you were 16 again (there was even a mini stage invasion by two brave souls who risked incurring the wrath of a security chappie who looked a little like Phil from Eastenders). Your English Is Good is a cracking track (it's on their My Space page) and, in its live incarnation, you can imagine it becoming a real 'sing along' set highlight. It even got me moving which, at my age, is some feat...