Thursday 29/01/04 Malorie, Engerica @ Barfly, Liverpool

Wirral ‘punks’ Malorie are a cunning bunch, somehow managing to fool myself and a number of others well into at least the first thirty seconds of their set that they may actually be good. Vocalist Kerry Brooks does a good impression of her idol (the Distiller’s Brody Dalle - formerly Armstrong). Dressing like someone straight out of the Topshop Vintage catalogue, three songs later its like the aforementioned Ms Dalle with tonsillitis and as each song passes the question ‘Can this get worse?’ is answered again and again. Perhaps Lemsip™ rather than plain water could be provided for the band on stage. It’s not just looks and vocals that let the group down. It seems every song is based around the same timings, riffs and chords and the appearance of the three backing members destroys any lingering creditability.

It may appear that Gigwise is sometimes hard on the local Liverpool scene, but with so many bands not picking out the right t-shirt, guitar strap or learning how to write a song it’s little wonder that the London music press only focuses on one type of music coming from the city.  Not only do Essex’s Engerica look good - black, red, without the white stripes - but they sound awesome. Crisscrossing between a lo-fi System of a Down, Idlewild and Pornography era-Cure, singer/guitarist Dave Gardner even stretches into the Cradle of Filth vocal range without for a moment acting like the twat Danni Filth.

Crunching guitar rifts straight out of the Smashing Pumpkins text book litter the bands songs confirming Engerica as a force to be reckoned with. Why any small band would want to play on a bill with these guy is completely unknown, try as they might almost every contender is likely to blown off the stage. Current single ‘The Smell’, although poorly named, is a monster of a song devouring all that stands in it way and it’s not alone. Engerica’s catalogue of songs makes for an army of hard as nails killer tunes.

Photos by Sakura Henderson