 |
  |
 |
| David McCormack & The Polaroids/Special Patrol Group Bar 107 Fri 27 Sept As a reviewer, the trouble with Bar 107 on a Friday night is that it can sometimes be a tad difficult to tell early on who's come to see the band and who's decided, possibly after noticing a steady ingress of newcomers, to kick on from the end-of-the-working-week celebrations. That being said, this uncertainty has the virtue of providing opportunity for games of 'spot the post-work drinkers who've decided to kick on'. The good news for Special Patrol Group is that their readily-digestible tones were received well by both camps. This was my first experience of the 'Group, and I must admit that their name led me to expect something quirky and possibly ska-inflected rather than the mid-paced, melodic, semi-acoustic sound the band delivered. The stage seems to be where McCormack & The Polaroids make the most sense. While there are no complaints here about their debut album 'Candy', live, they manage to inject an extra something into the songs. Part of this is simply the added dynamic of a band enjoying themselves with their material, but it also doesn't hurt that they're able to dig out some gems from Custard and Titanics archives to gee the already onside crowd up a notch. McCormack's bands have always seemed to strive for a comfortable midpoint between looseness and tightness, where the songs hang satisfyingly together, but with enough room left to breathe. And the Polaroids continue in this vein, having clearly meshed in their short time together. Apart from pretty much all of 'Candy', the set featured some surprising inclusions, Magic Dirt's Dirty Jeans for one, as well as a sweetly off-kilter version of Falling In Love Again. The opening bars of the band's current radio hit, The Inner West, inspired nods of approval, as did Custard's Girls Like That… and a breakneck rendition of Apartment. In fact, there was nothing that the band presented that wasn't warmly received. In short, the set was an unqualified success, one that I suspect will be readily repeated should the band find their way here again any time soon. Jeremy Reglar |
||
 |
 |