Thursday 24/02/11 Dinosaur Pile Up, Japanese Voyeurs, The Xerts @ The Garage, London

Arguably, it’s not that easy at the moment to select a decent set of bands to put on a medium sized venue tour. Rocksound therefore have done quite well to get these three together on the same billing, representing as they do some of the few promising new(ish) acts.

Openers The Xerts kick the evening off with a healthy dose of melodic rock. It’s a tight and catchy set that’s entertaining even if the band look a bit goofy while performing it. It’s clear these boys have stadium aspirations and given tonight’s repertoire they might just get there.

The same case can not be applied to Japanese Voyeurs. Suffering from muddy sound (on top of their desired muddy sound) leaves the guitar parts like sludge, while Romily Alice’s already Marmite vocals end up like a cross between Brian Molko and The Chipmunks.

Disregarding the sound and the fact the band look visibly knackered, the material just doesn’t feel convincing. Grunge was never supposed to be complicated and Japanese Voyeurs certainly don’t try and push past this. Yet some of the songs tonight just sound amateurish. Even singles ‘Dumb’ and ‘Milk Teeth’ are somehow lost in all this and things only get worse when they choose to cover Nine Inch Nail’s ‘Closer’.

Though there’s been the good and the bad, the performance from Dinosaur Pile Up is not the ugly. A band that has matured much over the past year, they’ve developed past a grungish mess into a well formed rock act. Looking a little more conformist these days, they haven’t lost the knack for a catchy tune or two. Older numbers such as ‘Opposite Attract’ have become solid stalwarts while new material such as ‘Should’ and ‘Mona Lisa’ shows the type of catchy, Foo Fighter-ish sense of melody that this band is developing into.

In addition to the musical direction, Dinosaur Pile Up seem to have grown as a band. There’s a great sense of camaraderie among this three piece, and singer/guitarist Matt Bigland has blossomed into an amusing and engaging front man.

A year ago when I saw this act they were living off of hype. Now they are earning their fans and doing it well. Tonight’s gig is near faultless, with only one blip as a slow song leaves most of the audience fiddling with their phones. Based on this performance, I’m already eager to hear the next batch of material that this band will deliver.