Buzzin Music

I’ve never been a fan of jugs. By which I mean beer glasses with handles, just to clear up any confusion and quell any childish sniggering. I thought their use had peaked in the 70’s and died out in the 80’s. It would appear not to be the case as the beer was thus presented to us at the Lexington. I say ‘us’ as no other jugs could be spotted anywhere. I’ll take it as a compliment that we were singled out for special treatment rather than contemplate the thought that two old blokes asking for real ale should always be treated thus.

The whole place was packed from the word go and, after negotiating the long queue to join the elite upstairs, we found Omi Palome already on stage. ‘Serious’ is probably the best way to describe them. The normal suspects of facial hair, chunky glasses and hair partings were all properly represented, along with the requisite rock ’n’ roll guitar moves in time to the crucial parts of the songs. But no smiles or grins. They made a good noise though and  ‘Take Me Outside’ sounded pleasantly like an early Wedding Present single, albeit one played at 33rpm. Possibly slightly faster, say 39rpm?

Gateshead’s finest, Milky Wimpshake, were the filling in tonight’s sandwich and very tasty they were too. Their c.1978 new-wave sound and simple, accessible love songs went down well. They are the sort of band who do the simple things so well that it looks like anyone could pull a three-piece band together and leap up on stage and do it. Except of course that for every group like this that make it look so easy there are hundreds who never get close to doing anything worthwhile.

Singer Pete has a slightly awkward manner, a bit reminiscent of Craig Cash, but sounds like Chris Difford, which is always a good thing in my book. Their forty minute set was a joy to hear and flashed past much too quickly. Great stuff and my band of the night, which I’m sure will cheer them up no end.

Let's Wrestle - (c) Robin Halls

By the time Let’s Wrestle arrived, the Lex was packed and expectant. They’ve expanded to a four-piece with the addition of new guitarist, Max. Opening with ‘I’m in love with destruction’ got things off to a good start and it was followed by ‘I’m so lazy’.

“In my dreams part 2” was probably the standout track of the set, which was subsequently filled with songs from the new album. Requests for older songs (that people knew) were met with the response “Max, doesn’t know them” which deflated the evening slightly. Well, Max could always have gone for a pint then couldn’t he – the other three certainly used to play them pretty well before he joined?

Still it’s always nice to hear their classic trebly Rickenbacker bass sound and the dual semi-acoustic guitar onslaught sounds promising for the new album. On this form though, they’ve got some work to do to reach the heights of last year’s “In the Nursing Home”.

They could start by getting Max to learn how to play the songs on it.