Live Review

Edgar Jones & the Joneses – Academy 3, Manchester

• 28th Oct 2007

With only around twenty people in the room, and a real sense of anticipation floating in the air, the stage was set for a top night. That is until a man in a Devildriver t-shirt lowered the stakes by crossing out the name of the first support act from the posters. I’ve heard it said that the reason why the Pixies were so utterly brilliant is dynamics, the contrast between quiet and loud in their songs. So, by simply not turning up, Thee Northcoats are halfway there.

As it says in the bible, ‘Thou Shalt Organ’, and in their opener, ‘Out of Sight’, the Lost 45’s certainly do just that with retro bells on. Their sound is pretty authentic, I mean fucking hell, the bassist even plays a Hohner violin bass. If Back to the Future had been set in Liverpool in 1962 then this is band would be playing at the Oyster Under The Sea Ball. Their next tune is tinged with psychotic rhythm and blues and sounds a bit like the Inspirals doing Til the End of the Day. It’s a shame the place is half empty because, they’re actually pretty good.

If Edgar Jones had a wire mesh in front of the stage, then this would be a gritty eighties comedy movie about a scouse fella who has an unconventional voice but a big heart. They breeze through tunes like an enjoyable hurricane; ‘Necessary evil’ tips the slightest of hat to Mustang Sally before they open up a sleazy handclap classic that is simultaneously clunky and smooth. Every beat is both one beat too slow and too fast, as the shuffling rhythm settles back into second place. There are intermittent guitar problems which Jones plays off with an excess of charm and self-adhesive velour tones, which bond silkily with the air. There is even a Ruth Madoc gag; I think the irony being that the next tune does slightly resemble ‘Holiday Rock’ from the start of Hi De Hi or even ‘You Cant Hurry Love’ as covered by the Coral. ‘NFL’ is a fitting end to the night; with drums that scramble up the rhythm and vocals that shine from above, everyone is glad to have kept up with the (Edgar) Joneses.