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When Liverpool’s purveyors of cool Robot Records decide to put on a night, they eschew the usual venues and go for the rather upmarket and glamorous surroundings of Prohibition. The line up is a mixture of the label’s own artists and others who they’ve decided to put on for the hell of it.
The eclectic bill is kicked off by singer/songwriter Paul Wilkes. Although armed with just the traditional acoustic, the set opens with 
some Zeppelin sized riffing that immediately moves Wilkes from the Dylan section into the kind of thing that Nick Harper does so well – the (post) modern one man band set up that sees a tender finger-picked love song followed by searing blues. If there is a problem, it is in the lyrics, which at times seem under developed. With the likes of Damien Harper and (gulp) even David Gray selling records by the truckload, there is a definite market out there for Wilkes, but Gigwise feels that despite his strong voice and natural stage presence it could take a while before this pup reaches maturity.
Coming from Belfast via Leeds, Drat are one of those bands who have you grinning one minute and groaning the next. It’s all very well being ambitious – how many bands do you see using a laptop and a double bass? Sometimes it can come across as a triumph of technology over content. It works best when Drat do the laid back minimalist pop thing that the likes of Clearlake or Grandaddy do so well. Gigwise is warming to the off kilter guitar tricks and the home made microphones when disaster strikes as they burst into a cliché ridden cover of 'Video Killed the Radio Star'; and leave a slightly sour aftertaste in the mouth.
The night ends with Robot’s own kings of cool, Former Miss America. With a uniform of tweed jackets, and a stage so dark that it’s easier to concentrate on the accompanying video screened to the side of the stage, the faint whiff of pomposity is spreading through the air. It’s no surprise then that singer
Tony Carter takes to the stage with a bottle of wine. Since the release of their debut 'Acid Folk EP' the beats seem to have become bigger, and the sounds more synthetic. This often has the unfortunate effect of leaving Carter slightly exposed at times. FMA are the latest in a long line of Liverpool bands that go against the grain. Their’s is not the scally jingle jangle or the sturm und drang of punk. They come from somewhere else altogether. By the time they close with the none more pretentious 'Mangez le Pomme', Gigwise is calling the tailor for a fitting and rubbing chins with the best of them.
Photos by John Daglish
