Starting us off in our journey into pop, it’s nice to see strong progress by local funkateers Fever Days whose groove-based tracks continue to be full of life and vigour, with previous single ‘Drugs’ stealing a set full of dreamy guitars and bounce.
Maintaining the heavy bass sound, Mr Ben and The Bens follow next in a sound, and style, full of bounce and kitsch. ‘The Bluest Blues’, ‘Transmissions’ and final track ‘Nova Scotia’ shine in a set finding itself somewhere between the guitar-driven sounds of early Supergrass and the Small Faces.
Keeping the bass theme going across the whole evening, headliners The Orielles use suitably funky bass-driven rhythms to round off an evening of terrific pop.
Falling somewhere between peak Dandy Warhols and the perfect pop of St Etienne, The Orielles soar, as highlighted on ‘Blue Suitcase’ and ‘Sunflower Seeds’, when they harmonise their dreamy vocals, let the bass conjure up a boppy bass line, and let Henry pull his Nile-Rogers funk guitar and moves to the front. Terrific.
