Friday 03/03/06 The Young Knives @ The Barfly, Liverpool

“Please excuse us, we’re suffering from laryngitis” House of Lords apologises to the impressively sized crowd. “And we’re ****ING SHIT!” laughs the also impressively sized Henry in not the first moment of self-deprecation of the night.  If Clor dress like Geography teachers, then The Young Knives are the ****ing headmasters, dressed in tweed jackets and Adidas tank tops as they fire shots of their very-English brand of power pop at their pupils as if they were dishing out 6 of the best.

 

Their humour is a big reason as to why The Young Knives are such a success here tonight (let’s face it, it’s got nothing to do with the farty excuse of a P.A. system in this bar-room in Liverpool’s Barfly venue), but the strength of their tunes is what really wins this boisterous audience over.  ‘The Decision’ brings possibly the loudest clamour of approval from the throng, but it’s run close by the reaction to the Supergrass-meets-Grange Hill blast of current single ‘Here Comes The Rumour Mill’.  This is the lighter side of the new wave revival: the irreverence of XTC, The Fall and Talking Heads are the more obvious reference points, with tracks like ‘Weekends and Bleak Days’ are riddled with hooks to the point that their presence in the charts really doesn’t seem that unlikely. 

 

When it’s all over, The Young Knives pack up and head the bar as the Panic! DJs get the cramped dance-floor moving.  For a while, looking at that stage, it was like being back at school.  Now they’re gone, what we wouldn’t give for some extra lessons.