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Surprises DO happen. Walking towards The Water Rats
in Kings Cross last Tuesday, it suddenly struck me how
truly awful the pop music scene has been this year.
There has been no real talent emerging, and there has
been a huge amount of re-releases and cover versions
recently which shows that, to quote a slightly
overused cliche, "they can't write songs like they
used to". So it was with maybe a little bit of dread
that I entered this venue, which is more usually
associated with grunge and heavy metal than pop.
I walked out at the end
thinking how naive I had been.
For this venue (no more than a large pub) was treated
to something rather special that night - a half hour set
by Paleday.
Paleday is fronted by Anthony Stubbs, who co-writes
all the songs with Stephen Farrier, who plays hand
percussion and backing vocals. They have been working
together for six years, and in the past they had mainly
concentrated on soundtracks for theatre productions.
In early 1999, they decided to form a band, and they
named themselves after a ballad they had written
several years previously.
The first thing that must be said is that they
are all
hugely talented. The keyboard player was unable to
play in the set, as he was touring with another band,
but it was probably better that way because the
miniscule stage could hardly fit the 7 other members
of the band that were present.
The band are influenced by several people-
most notably The Pet Shop Boys, Simply Red, Lighthouse
Family and Jamiroquai. This is reflected in their
varied styles of music. They started their set with a
couple of simple pop 'anthems'.
After playing a haunting slower song, they demonstrated their musical and technical diversity by
branching off into great Jamiroquai-induced funk
sounds. This song was probably the best one that they
played.
They then played their debut single, High, which has a
summery, light feel to it. It has an extremely
memorable chorus, which I couldn't get out of my head
for ages (in the event it was probably a good thing).
Paleday ended their
far-too-short set with a medley of
two great 'disco' influenced songs, with which we were
told were the songs they always ended their set with.
Most interesting
of all was the brilliant sound
balance they got. The whole band had an excellent
stage persona, and at the end of their set I just
wanted to hear more. Their songs have witty lyrics,
beautiful meldies, and catchy choruses. This is most
definitely a band to watch out for.
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