Issue 53 / March 2015

44
Bido Lito! March 2015 Reviews
days may well be behind them, but
Blackalicious prove that an act that are
getting on a bit but can still put on one
helluva show.
Howl Rama
THE WAVE PICTURES
Sugarmen
Harvest Sun and Bam!Bam!Bam!
@ The Kazimier
With their slicked-back hair, leather
jackets and rolled-up Strummer sleeves,
you can guess what SUGARMEN are
all about before they strike a chord.
They are a coiled spring of a band that
unleash every ounce of their garage rock
stormers with unharnessed exuberance.
Looks-wise, lead singer Luke Fenlon
is an exact amalgamation of the
aforementioned Clash frontman and
a young Bob Dylan – and sure enough
these are songs which take direct aim
at ‘the man’ but with enough passion to
forgive any cringe-inducing lyric.
While Sugarmen obviously have
enough commitment and sincerity, there
is no mistaking where their ambitions
lie. Every song catches the impressed
Kazimier crowd with at least a couple
of sizeable hooks, paired with anthemic
choruses that are destined to be sang
back to them from front rows of arena
crowds. It’s a different story, however,
when considering tonight’s main event.
THE WAVE PICTURES have been around
for six years prolifically churning out
enchanting, off-beat indie gems which
subvert genre and are packed with
imagination and charisma. By rights,
they should be where Sugarmen think
they are: Wembley Arena. But they’re
not, despite loyal commitment from the
likes of 6 Music aficionado Marc Riley;
they remain in the shadowy realm of the
cultish. Their cult following is faithfully
represented tonight by a mixture of the
young and decidedly middle-aged.
It is perhaps The Waves Pictures’ postpunk
stylings which attract the yonder
end of the age range this evening,
but there is much more to love. Their
latest album – featuring another figure
who embodies the qualities of cult,
Billy Childish – is well represented
tonight. Opener Pea Green Coat piles
surreal image upon surreal image over
a wonky garage rock hook; and I Can
Hear the Telephone (3 Floors Above Me)
is introduced by singer David Tattersall
with typical tongue-in-cheek selfdeprecation
as currently “storming up
the charts”.
Bassist Franic Rozycki remains silent
throughout while Tattersall and drummer
The Wave Pictures (Glyn Akroyd)
Jonny Helm exchange engaging
between-song anecdotes. There’s clearly
a lot of love in the room for the Londonbased
three-piece and this is expressed
most vociferously in the reception for
Friday Night In Loughborough from the
2008 debut album Instant Coffee Baby.
This vignette of small town England
offers an excellent example of how The
Wave Pictures fit nicely into a lineage of
The Kinks, Scritti Politti and The Smiths.
Helm steps from behind the kits for
the oddly touching Sleepy Eye in which
he moves away from the mic and sings
a cappella – the song fitting into the
set, Tattersall claims, to demonstrate
that the band aren’t all about “macho
rock”. It’s clear The Wave Pictures are
as comfortable as Tattersall’s ill-fitting
slacks in their place on the fringes and
their call of “see you again” is met with
glee by their devoted cult following, of
whom I am now glad to be a part.
Sam Turner / @samturner1984
Your Bag?
Catch The Readymades @
Leaf on 19th March