Reviewed on 7th September 2011.

The Arrogance Of King Canute

Live at The Library on Friday, 2nd September 2011

Jack, and Gill's Daughter make for an excellent opener to the night - soulful tunes ornamented by fantastic guitar technique á Jon Gomm. There's a bit of a feeling that they're maybe a touch out of their depth on a bigger stage and the crowd chatter is toxic but they get their points across in style.

If Jack Haigh's guitar technique has your eyes wide, Elliot Morris's will have your eyes out. A remarkably polished set from Lincolnshire's finest; he manages to drag much of the crowd out from their nattering. Energetic numbers with punk rock passion played confidently. He has a voice that would make 13-year-old girls quiver at the knees - maybe a little grating for the rest of us but rescued by some well-timed self-depreciation - "Puff".

Attempting to bring the noise now were The Reign, yet another average Oasis-with-a-bit-of-punk-rock-for-good-measure 4-piece. This may be a bit of a harsh assessment but these bands really are 3-a-penny in Leeds nowadays and you've got to work properly hard to stand out if you wanna make any real waves. To their credit, they were tight and the songs were not without merit but I feel like they could be doing much more to liven up the set.

Juno give a good example of what I'm talking about - thrashed out punk rock which adds absolutely nothing new to the table but played with the conviction that you can get behind. As if to prove my point further they even threw in a version of Blink 182's most over-covered track 'Dammit' which I like for the nostalgia while the vocals had a canny resemblance to The Offspring. Their originals, too, gave of a bit of an Offspring/Pennywise air too but the point is it was executed with passion and force. Also, the drummer looked a bit like Beavis from Beavis and Butthead but that's neither here nor there.

Finally, ten points to Gryffindor for The Arrogance Of King Canute who were thoroughly entertaining as well as musically interesting. Proggy hints (with a name like that, you'd be disappointed if there weren't) and some stomp-worthy rhythms giving off a bit of a Madness vibe in places (mostly down to the sax) these guys handled the stage like pros. Some frankly ridiculous basswork, inappropriate in absolutely every other context, consistently raised a smile while confident vocals in the difficult to master low register proved what subtlety these guys could manage. One to watch.

Very healthy numbers tonight show signs that 360 Club will be commandeering many a happy gig-goer's Friday nights in the weeks to come. On in the next few weeks will be Castrovalva and Danananananackroyd. Keep your eyes skinned.