Bromheads Jacket, Thomas Tantrum, The Ultra Sonics - 14th September 2006
Reviewed by Karen Jones
The first band on tonight were The Ultra Sonics. I really enjoyed these. They had a sort of grungey sound, but without sounding really 90’s. Lots of mad guitars which I always enjoy. I would sum them up as sounding a bit like a cockernee Mudhoney. I did tell the singer this afterwards and he didn’t seem insulted, so I guess it’s a reasonable description.
Next on were Thomas Tantrum. I’ve no idea what they were supposed to be doing. They probably thought they were being terribly clever, which so often translates as dull and slightly bemusing. I particularly hated the vocals. That sort of silly little girl voice with occasional screeching is the musical equivalent of fingernails down a blackboard (shudder!). There was a brilliant demonstration of totally pointless spoon playing. Yes – spoon. And no the guitarist doesn’t look like Russell Brand, unless you’ve been drinking that special cider that turns you blind.
Finally it was Bromhead's Jacket. I have never heard anything by them, but I read my NME and they sounded good on paper. I was going to see them at Reading, but a quick check of the timetable reveals that I was having a quiet lay down at the time due to a rather late Thursday night. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they were even better than I thought they might be. I was a bit worried about the comparisons to The Streets (cos I don’t like ‘em), but thankfully there was plenty of energetic guitar and no rubbish dancey music. I have also heard the Arctic Monkeys comparison. Well, yes they are all from up North (Bass player Jono is actually from St. Albans - Editor) and sing about everday sort of stuff. Having managed to see a rather lacklustre Monkeys performance at Reading, I’d say that Bromheads Jacket have got the edge.
(Check out another review of this gig, plus some live pictures, on the Beds on Sunday website - Ed)