Friday 15/10/04 Bobby Conn�s Solo Experience, Black Wire @ Blowout, Manchester

It takes a while to realise that the line up for this weeks Blowout is less incongruous than it at first appears. Leeds garage rock/post punkers Black Wire supporting the completely mental, but oh so lovable Bobby Conn, so what is the parallel, exactly? True, both acts are completely bonkers, however, Black Wire’s ‘craziness’ certainly seems a bit more contrived than Bobby’s obvious insanity. Yes, you got it, both acts give great importance to their image. Bobby Conn with his glam roots drawing attention away from the surprisingly political lyrical content of his tracks and Black Wire with a serious case of style over content.

So Black Wire then, skinny boys in skinny ties with painfully coiffured hairdo’s but, alas no tunes. They can walk the walk and all that but when it comes to talking the talk they fall painfully short. Just like the swarms of Sonic Mook-esque bands that have gone before them, Black Wire are destined to have one attention grabbing single and then shamble off into obscurity if they continue to play gigs like tonight. In saying that however, recent single 'Hard to Love, Easy to Lay' does have promise, maybe tonight it’s just a case of wrong crowd, wrong venue, let’s hope so.