Tuesday 20/02/07 The Motorettes @ The Metro, London

“So this is, um, a secret gig”, says guitarist Robin. No wonder there’s an initial lack of let’s ‘av it; the gig’s so secret that a mere ten folks have shown up.  It’s hard not to feel the cringe. But the more prolific Long Blondes putting out the hottest ticket in town at the Astoria is a likely explanation. The Tynemouth trio brush their disappointment aside, blasting off with ‘You Gotta Look the Parts’.

The Motorettes are about taking rock 'n' roll back to its youthful days, when the songs were all about girls and clean-spirited fun, so nothing here is to be read too deeply into – it is rock ‘n’ roll, they certainly look like your average indie get-up, however their oft-mentioned 1960s girl group influences sound through. The songs are poppy, melodic and oh so sweet and happy; just look at the twee cutsey polkda dot girls whooping along to ‘I’m on Fire’.

The Motorettes are proud to tout themselves as pop, but ‘Go! Go! Gadget Girl’ is one hell of a punkish tune: the drums are frenetic and the intimacy of the gig means you can see Robin’s pearly brow; he’s really going for it.

The more than one bloke singing at once thing draws comparisons with the Futureheads, something the Motorettes are known to shake off as piss poor journalism. But if they cite their earlier influences as the Shirelles and the Ramones, then bracketing them with the Futureheads isn’t lazy, it’s honest.

The obvious closer to the half hour, seven song set was the fantastic ‘Super Heartbeats’, a former XFM single of the week. An impressive little show with a big bold statement: goodtime rock ‘n’ roll is back and it’s from Tyne and Cheer.