Fall of Troy
Live at Cockpit on Tuesday, 25th September 2007
Daughters look like they'd be a set of right pricks. The singer has a handlebar moustache, for starters, which ordinarily I'd greatly admire (this being the only acceptable variety of moustache, ever), but to be honest it makes him look like a bit of an idiot. Image aside, their music is a passable nonsense that flits and flutters between confusing, choppy, jumpy audio torture and foot-stomping, head-bopping, speaker-blowing, beat-driven power-rock. They perform to an impressively full room considering they open up at half seven, and - in accordance with the set's quality - they go down 'fairly well'.
It's Fall of Troy's gig, of course, but in comparison to Daughters' eardrum-blowing wall of sound, the three-piece sound embarrassingly weedy and thin tonight. The American alt-scenesters seem more occupied with jumping around, stage-diving and generally showing off to all the kids than actually playing a tight and impressive hour of music, and while it looks cool, it's a less than pleasant listen. Sometimes the singer doesn't bother singing. Or playing his guitar. Or doing much at all, really. Then the bass cuts out for a whole song, which throws the band off for a while, and it's all looking rather grim. Things pick up further into the set, but it's a bit too late when first impressions have been so weak. The Cockpit seems to be having a good time, as does Blue Sky Project bass player Anthony Wright, who briefly joins the band onstage after being booted in the face accidentally by Fall of Troy's singer. Crowd-pleasing, but not - in all honesty - too hot.