Turned out there was another old review buried in an email account. This was possibly written for the now defunct Sandman Magazine.
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The Deadbeats/The Virgins Marys/The Vox
Academy 3, Manchester 9/6/07
Is the tide turning? It seems a new breed of indie is rising alongside this ‘nu-rave’ malarkey, with its eyes firmly fixed across the Atlantic. Of tonight’s acts, both The Virgin Marys and The Deadbeats have looked to influences that the scenesters and fashionistas usually frown upon: 70s rock and grunge.
The Vox, however, stick to the more traditional. Imagine is Bernard Butler jammed with Supergrass on some tunes by the Who and The Jam and you’d roughly arrive at the sound these guys make. While not exactly original, it’s much more interesting than anything The Stereophonics have ever done, and fans of the above mentioned bands will find enjoy this.
The Virgin Marys’ singer instantly brings to mind Jim Morrison, and this is no bad thing. As for the music, while it’s still indie, there’s a whole lot of rock going on. These boys own some AC/DC records, and probably some Soundgarden too. They manage to sound laid back and energetic at the same time, and even throw in some random synth noises too.
Every time I’ve seen The Deadbeats before they’ve played sitting down, so seeing them walk on stage and more than half of them still standing up as they start the first song was a new experience. Quite a few of The Deadbeats’ songs are built on the kind of stompy rhythm The Stones made famous, which caused outbreaks of dancing in this ridiculously hot venue.
This is what Primal Scream would sound like if they’d carried on with the style they used on Give Up But Don’t Give Out, or like The Coral having abandoned sea shanties and gone a bit country and hired someone to play honky tonk piano parts.
The Deadbeats are slowly building a loyal following among the UK indie scene, but I can’t help but think that they’d be massive in America.
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