Give me a 'K'...give me an 'a'...give me a 'mikaze!' Yes it's Mikaze! time again and this week Matthew was an utter electropop 80's rock glam disco bucket of stuff...and things...and all that.
Kicking off we had 10 Guitars - a man who only seemed to have 1 guitar, but hey, who's counting? He did feature the lovely Carlo on funky drums though, who more than made up for the missing 9 guitars. Anyway, if you're gonna do '80's electropop you've got to put your heart and soul into it and Mr 10 Guitars certainly did...right down to that funky shoe shuffly thing that Tiffany (ask yer Granny) used to do in Malls. Musically he's like Jean Michelle Jarre on acid...and Absinthe. I don't know why but I wanted him to be wearing gold spandex, but then I'm a little odd. Being the lovely chap that he no doubt is he's put a couple of his best tracks on his My Space page, the pick of which is Well Fit Stripper - Thomas Dolby meets Cameo. Awesomely good. Word up. 
Next 100,000,000 Guitars....no, I jest, it's The Riptides. I think they'd probably like to have 100,000,000 guitars though, given the 80's stadiumrock-tastic vibe of their music. Think 'Don't You Forget About Me' era Simple Minds, a little 'Love Like Blood' era Killing Joke and 'Love is a Wonderful Colour' era The Icicle Works - it almost made me feel young again. Of course all this 80's stuff is as hip and trendy as...hmmm...what is hip and trendy these days? Shaving your pubic hair into some form of corporate logo? Supergluing jelly beans to your eyelashes? Beats me. Answers on a postcard please. But, whatever the reason for the resurgence of big, ambitious and catchy pop like The Riptides I couldn't be happier. As with 10 Guitars I wanted outfits again. maybe those gold lame suits that ABC used to wear? Or, at the very least, Miami Vice suits with the sleeves rolled up. Now you're talking. Second time I've seen this band and second time I've gone away impressed. 
Third up, well, what do we have here? Ah ha, a band who clearly understand the full 360 degree nature of performance (or, as Mr Bowie put it, Sound + Vision). It's Hitchcock. Anyone who invokes the name of Sir Alf had better be up to the job. Lucky for them, they are. Shades of early Adam Ant and Gary Numan melded (yes, melded) to more recent technotronica (yes, I know, I'm probably making all this shit up again). What lifts the whole thing up a notch or 10 though is lead singer Matt Droog who, to my fading eyes at least, bears an uncanny resemblance to a goth Iggy Pop. Twisting about, throwing shapes, staring out the audience...it was a masterclass in how to really perform. In fact, like their namesake, they are truly masters of their art. Dark, twisted yet utterly addictive. Check out some snippets of their forthcoming album and spread the word.
Finally, and on a remarkably strong bill they had something to live up to, Heloise & The Savoir Faire! All the way from Noo Yawk! On a serious note, Kamikaze are pulling some impressively cool names right now, putting the Carling02whateveritscalledthisweek to shame. SHAME! Do you hear me! Ha! (next week they have La Roux you know. La 'blinking' Roux!). But, back to the lovely sexbomb that is Heloise and the equally sexy Savoir Faire. More disco soul than Beth Ditto in a Scissor Sisters sandwich they're the ear meltingly brilliant sound of Studio 54 for 2009. Heloise has a voice that could give the pope a stiffy...I'm getting slighty firm myself just writing about it. Live she's flanked by two lovely dancers too, who camped and glammed it up in fine style (that performance thing again you see), making the whole gig like a slightly naughty 80's pop video. Heaven! Like the Sisters' first album every track's a belter, sexy, squelchy electrodisco love juice, with a butt shaking groove that would give Chic a run for their money. Hell, I can't do it all justice, go listen and don't come back until you own at least one pair of gold hotpants.
Big Up Hitchcock!
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