Reviewed on 19th March 2007.

Sly Mr Fox

Live at Mine on Wednesday, 14th March 2007

Tonight was unlike the typical gig where, if you want to catch the first band, you have to rush your tea and give yourself indigestion running down to the venue for at least 8 o'clock. In fact, the general atmosphere was entirely relaxed and stomach-friendly. Slice sauntered onstage at around 11 and slid into what at first seemed like head bop friendly funk. Their Jamiroquai-like bass and dirty guitar riffs gave them a harder edge as did the unusual introduction of rap to the funk genre. Whether or not this vocal technique suited the band's sound and style, they managed to get away with it in songs such as 'Rock Star' where it was accompanied by a Ghostbusters guitar grind and a catchy reprise.

Stepping up a level, Sly Mr Fox are in a league of their own when it comes to all-pleasing funk pop. Imaginative lyrics and energetic song writing characterise their attraction, as each track is dynamic and ranges from a chilled out swaying melody to an all out funk rock attack. Fronting the foxes is the fantastic Holly Walker who with a flirty stage presence pulls each song off with beautiful finesse. Her powerful voice carries with it a delicate vibrato, which adds sweetness to SMF's cheeky sound.

Crowd-pleasers included the epitomising 'Fox Me Up' with the brilliantly confident lyrics 'there's no agenda, just on a bender so fox me up good'. But there's more to this band than sexiness; 'Angelina' is a song discouraging plastic surgery, and 'Lizard' depicts a heart-wrenching story about a zoo-bound reptile. But lyrical imagination is second only to the unfailing quality of their musical prowess. Susceptible in their chosen style to fall for predictable chord patterns, a samey repertoire and indulgent solos Sly Mr Fox avoid all three in favour of a dolly mixture of performances. Each instrument and combination of instruments in their four-piece dream team is explored to its full extent without bordering on the tiresomely experimental. The result is a set that absolutely forbids you not to get up and dance like a full-gone lunatic.