Friday 14/07/06 King Creosote, John Stammers, Isobel Hayworth @ Academy 3, Manchester

‘KC Rules’ wont die a slow death, yet tonight it’s a morbid curiosity that drives us to attend King Creosote’s return. This is the same kind of morbid curiosity that drove thousands to see the Stone Roses in the 90’s, and Babyshambles in the 00’s; everybody loves a live massacre.

But first up is a little moppy lad who goes by the name of John Stammers. John, part Evan Dando, part Stuart Murdoch and dare I say Nick Drake personifies the essence of Fence Records perfectly. His whittling folk is a particularly poignant, yet you can’t help but feel John won’t surface above all the Spanish haze that currently saturates the folk market. But, at least he has a chance, which is undoubtedly more than the cantankerous Isobel Hayworth has who batters us with four tracks of whimsical pap. Vocally shes amazing, pitch perfect, yet when coupled with an acoustic guitar her ugly head rears and spews demonic shite, well not quite, it’s not demonic, just pure shite. It’s emotionless, clawing shamelessly at credibility and steers dangerously close to Sandi Thom, need we say more?

Kenny’s last Manchester performance was disappointingly lacklustre, suffering from poor sound and overblown arrangements KC Rules mislaid its charm, clumsily quashing the albums subtle sides in favour of superfluous tub thumping.
And to be honest tonight is little different, the set list remains predominantly unchanged, and the pub arrangements reside, yet Kenny and has rabble appear rejuvenated and beam smiles. ‘Jumping At The Cats’ becomes a parody of Postman Pat and some of the older tracks owe a considerable debt to Wings, yet through all their maniacal demolition of perfection, moments of tangible genius appear. The fact that they all revolve around Kenny and a single guitar is pivotal; simplicity is indeed the key. For this reason 'The Vice Like Gist Of It' is the pinnacle of tonight’s set, with Kenny stretching his vocals and the addition of 80’s prog flourishes the track highlights exactly why King Creosote is/are such a rare entity.