THE FRONT ROW

If you’d entered a packed Jimmy’s just before The Clause came on stage you may have felt a mild sense of dislocation. Witnessing the plethora of Tricolour flags and Guinness top hats, and hearing the occasional shouts of ‘Yam Yam Army’ you’d have been forgiven for thinking that you’d stepped into a pub on Digbeth High Street rather than a venue in Liverpool’s Bold Street. The lure of the opportunity to spend St Patrick’s Day in Liverpool and watch one of the most promising young bands in the country was obviously too much of a temptation for a proportion of the population of Birmingham to resist. Their travels were to be well rewarded.

Opening artists of the evening and rising out of the ashes of Bedside Manners were local band Wull. To the uninitiated ‘Wool’ is a Scouse term used to describe anyone who lives adjacent to the ‘L’ postcodes but not lucky enough to come from the city itself. Three members of Wull are from the Wirral and so fit firmly into that category.

I initially had some trepidation about Wull. Their set started cautiously with debut single Running Out and Chasing The Feeling. Happily by the third song Macintosh Wull had found their stride. Prior to this song the members of Wull appeared slightly hesitant but during Macintosh something just seemed to click. Wull seemed to relax and started to enjoy themselves. Gone were the statuesque shoegazing postures to be replaced by positivity and presence. During Livid, Take Me There, and Liar’s Dream the band’s rhythm guitarist and bass player prowled excitedly back and forth across the stage while the lead singer clambered on to the barriers demanding and grabbing the attention of the crowd.

This was Hull based five-piece FEVER‘s Liverpool debut. And if they enjoyed playing as much as the crowd seemed to enjoy watching then a speedy return is on the cards. FEVER have a bit of pedigree. As well as having supported Blossoms, members of the band have lived at the same Hull address as The Housemartins, and Paul Heaton himself has approved of the band’s cover of one of his hits.

FEVER’s stock-in-trade is melodic indie rock in the mould of The Seahorses or for a more contemporary reference Inhaler. Singer James Harrod has a relaxed stage presence and a seemingly effortlessly smooth vocal style. He never has to reach for a note it’s always there. FEVER opened their set with a new, as yet unreleased song, Why Can’t You Hear Me? and their most recent single Long Ago before playing Gold Intentions – a song whose jangly intro has a Smiths-like essence. Befitting their outgoing performance FEVER brought their sweeping set to a climax with the expansive, billowing, anthemic Honesty.

Halfway 2 Nowhere favourites The Clause are coming along nicely thank-you very much and are thoroughly deserving of their own headline tour. From the opening electronic ‘boop-doops’ of the band’s youthful call-to- arms that was Time of Our Lives they had a sweaty, crammed Jimmy’s crowd under their control. Next came Electric, a song that throws you a dummy from the start. The intro brings to mind The Animals version of House of the Rising Sun, and then out of nowhere comes a distorted buzz-saw guitar riff that lifts you off your feet.

On this performance you could soon see The Clause being likened to the best of the emerging UK indie-guitar groups, bands like The Reytons and The K’s. What I really like about The Clause is their shape-shifting ability to weft and weave genres and make something new and Clausey. 2021’s Cruella may start a bit Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but deep down it’s a glam-rock stomper. Excellent new single Hate The Player is an electronic Moroderesque disco floor-filler.

Forever Young is a bona fide sing-a-long anthem which starts off all U2 pomp and delay but develops and gives guitarist Liam Deakin a chance to shine with some shimmering solos. Singer Pearce Macca gives his voice a slight respite during the yearning acoustic lament Where Are You Now? and there’s a nod to the locals with a brief, well joined-in cover of The Real Thing‘s You To Me Are Everything. Normal service is quickly resumed as The Clause conclude with the adolescent anxiety-ridden Sixteen, and the crowd pleasing funky finale In My Element.

Bostin’.

Ian Dunphy.