Indie club night promoters This Feeling kick off 2012 to a fine start with a showcase evening of six acts they are hotly tipping for big things over the next 12 months. With their finger on the pulse, This Feeling picked up half a dozen artists, all with much potential, to provide four hours worth of diverse and entertaining sounds. Sadly, one of the six, Life In Film, had to pull out earlier in the day due to band member injury, but the announced five were still more than worth the money.
The Carpels, an edgy post-punk outfit hailing from Birmingham, are an interesting lot who bleed together a fusion of spunk, dubstep and indie. With at least two of them looking young enough to still be at school (they are, in fact, all aged around 17-18), a bespectacled Harry Potter-lookalike guitarist [that's Big Mikey, apparently! - Ed] and a vocalist, Dylan Williams, with an attention-grabbing array of gesturing hand movements and facial grimaces not to mention and a rough and powerful vocal its not surprising they were picked up by Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes and signed to his One Beat Records label last year. Their new single Bears has just been released as a download.
Brookes also had a hand in putting The Ghosts together, by introducing frontman Alex Starling to drummer Ian Palmer. With their debut single Enough Time (released this month) having received airplay, and on the back of their intriguing accompanying video, this was a band making their debut appearance. Or those bewitched by the dreamy synth-richness of Enough Time and the soaring falsetto of Starling, they showed they have more strings to their bow by introducing the catchy, danceable Ghosts and In An Emergency enough indeed to even set the professional photographers in the front row dancing. Their debut album The End (coming this spring) is certain to be one that will attract much interest.
Shoegaze/Brit-pop revivalists SULK, having been around for a time previously under the guide of The Ruling Class, are masters of turning out that 90s feel of psychedelic swirling harmonies and swooning guitars. Its hard not to make comparisons to the Primals/Roses in vocalist Jonathan Sutcliffe, in both stage presence and style. Not a bad thing, by any means, and with a raft of sonic guns in their armoury such as Back In Bloom, Sleeping Beauty and Wishes, SULK have set their own agenda.
Manchesters Janice Graham Band (with no female member, or anyone called Janice come to that) are a punk/ska four-piece that have been steadily picking up notice for their retro grooves akin to The Specials. Undoubtedly one of the stars of the night, with bittersweet lyrical takes in Murder and No Money Honey, the latter their second and latest singles release from their forthcoming Its Not Me album.
The night closer, Londons Born Blonde, fill the stage with a Doves/Verve-vibe shimmering set that, as vocalist Arthur Delaney has stated, owes more to stargaze than shoegaze. The lustrous Architect and Radio Bliss ethereal riffs and electric vocals both show why they were picked up quickly by Universal.
Given that the admittance fee for this night was a mere 5, anyone who decided to pass on this stellar line-up of bands may well come to regret doing so. Before the years out its likely to be costing twice as much just to see any one of those who were here tonight.