Dogs & Humanzi
Koko – Camden
12th February 2006
The line up is promising, the gig sold out, the queue long enough to built anticipation. The bar as always living chaos! First up are Humanzi who sound quite a bit like Talking Heads and Primal scream in a bitch fight. A 4-piece from Dublin, with a Pete-Doherty look-alike guitarist, play a short but effective set. Check their interview out on this site as they are a band to definitely look out for this summer.
Opening next, a band called Dogs. I saw them open for The 80’s Matchbox B-Line Disaster, and I must emphasise on how much they have improved. They are sounding pretty awesome at the moment! This 5 piece were a great choice for hotting up the crowd with their post Clash mish mash and even have a hit in their set called End of an Era that you can sing along to with the words “…what a wanker, Oh, what a wanker, I’m going away from here” – class.
The Paddingtons have it all, the image, the sound, and the attitude to match. If you don’t know them off hand, chances are you have probably stumbled across their music without knowing about it. They look like something from a Hoxton gentlemen’s fashion mag, but all of that is lost as they start tearing into their tracks. Singing Clash-esque songs, expressed through an almost emo voice, makes it easy to see why this fast up and coming indie band is believed to be hanging out with the likes of Pete Doherty who incidentally was spotted at the side of the stage in a shocking purple shirt! They have enjoyed their fast rate success by touring with the likes of The Bravery and Babyshambles, a fast-paced start for any band and the hard work seems to have paid off.
By mixing influenced sounds of The Sex Pistols, Saints, Strokes and The Clash, they play an energetic tight set with no gaps, just a fuel injected sequence of well rehearsed and well structured songs. The crowd was engaged, they were captured and the bouncers were rushed off their feet managing the crowd surfing situation, especially throughout hits such as Sorry and 50 for a Pound and the cover version of Mollys Lips, not that it bothered the band whatsoever as this is Brit-rock at its finest from the darkest depths of Hull.
They even have room tonight for a few new numbers, Broken Man, Rat Race and a massive sounding track called You and I that could well be a future single. Punk-poet vocalist Tom Atkins works beatnik charm as he swaggers on stage singing, and smoking simultaneously. Considering his manager had to cart him around Soho to get Chinese medicine so he could speak earlier on in the day after the soundcheck, he managed to pull it off with style. Tonight, the drummer Grant Dobs kills the drums topless in the background and with the addition of a violinist in one of the songs these days, the sound has become something else.
There is no mistaking how talented these guys are. The Paddingtons have a sound that is now individual and powerful, yet still swaggers that energy and attitude you want in a band. They finish off with Loser and 21, and the encore of the b-side Yarmouth Town before the sweaty but ecstatic masses are swept out by grouchy floor staff.
The Paddingtons have a full line up in the UK until March, so it’s not to late to catch them, find them at www.thepaddingtons.net.
Niki Kova’cs