Monday 26/11/07 Rooney @ Dingwalls, Camden

Bounding gleefully out of the shadows and straight in to a predictable chorus of football-terrace chants, Rooney appear untroubled by the small venues they remain consigned to in the UK.  Their eponymous 2003 debut  - best album Weezer never made, FYI - went unnoticed back in those Libertines and Strokes dominated times; maybe their Hollywood connections turned the hipsters against them (singer Robert Schwartzman’s uncle is Francis Ford Coppola), or maybe their breezy-sounding (but meticulously crafted) Beach Boys meets Beatles melodies came across as knowingly dorky and retro. Perhaps it’s simply the fact that they actually do appear to be geeks, looking for all the world like extras cast as bullied high-school virgins in some long-forgotten episode of The Wonder Years.

Whatever the reason, they do not instantly seize upon their recent flirtation with the mainstream (slinky yet energetic comeback single ‘When Did Your Heart Go Missing,’ saved for the end) as an opportunity to hammer home the message of new album ‘Calling the World.’  It’s only their second, and it’s been four years in the making, but the band are happy to give their devoted audience what they want: old stuff. Opening with established fan-faves ‘Blueside’ and ‘Sorry Sorry,’ the band showcase their enviable way around a 3 minute pop song, as a dizzying array of harmonies and solos (both keyboard and guitar) jostle for space over tunes that sound timeless on first listen. Audience on-side, they test the waters with new tracks ‘Calling the World’ and ‘Don’t Come Around Again’ before unveiling the should-have-been-a-single ‘I’m A Terrible Person’ to delighted whoops.

They continue this even split of old and new to great effect - only breaking up the rhythm with a frankly genius cover of Del Shannon’s ‘Runaway.’ Some of the more overt stadium rock clichés displayed on the new album (the uneasy Police-like ska of ‘All In Your Head’s’ verse, the proggy guitar intro to next single ‘I Should’ve Been After You’) stick out like sore thumbs when placed alongside their carefree older material, but they just about get away with it.

The charismatic Schwartzman has a nice line in dry wit (‘you can stop chanting Rooney now, there’s only, like, eight of you doing it’), and an unceasing megawatt smile. However he remains nerdy ‘til the end with his magical, sideways-expanding hair, of which he is oblivious. That’s what happens when seventies haircut’s go under stage lights, it would appear.