Thursday 21/07/05 The Aeroplanes, The Great Northwestern Hoboes @Metropolitan, Liverpool

While the frontiers of drum ’n’ bass are being pushed in The Lemon Lounge upstairs, Liverpool’s latest muso-centric haunt Metropolitan is celebrating its first birthday by plunging itself into a time-warp.  Medieval madrigals, 50’s skiffle and good vibrations make up the sound of tonight’s openers The Great Western Hoboes. In fact, the most futuristic thing about this band is that listening to set closer ‘Slippin’ an’ a Slidin’’ recalls Marty McFly’s Chuck Berry cover in ‘Back To The Future’.  The Hoboes struggle tonight with poor sound quality ("We’ve had a mare of a set" singer Marc apologises), but a few clean-cut gems aside (‘Between Hope and Catherine Street’ compares favourably with, say, Travis), The Hoboes don’t offer much evidence here that they have enough to set them apart from the throngs of other Scouse bands before them.

 

Instead, it’s down to Huyton four-piece The Aeroplanes to bring the party vibes to a rammed Metropolitan, and having recently put the finishing touches to their debut EP, they take to the stage in celebratory mood. The band have sat patiently on the fringes of the Liverpool boom of recent years, which has bred the Steppenwolf-like outsider swagger that infects their presence and their tunes.  Stones-y opener ‘Down Low’ sets the pace with ear-bleed level guitars, but it’s the epic ‘Get Down’ which really stands out with its lilting verses giving way to swelling, cranked-up choruses. ‘Don’t Stop Me’ loses points for sounding like ‘Golden Touch’ by toothy gob-shites Razorlight; but the overwhelming impression is that The Aeroplanes are a band that don’t just play but need to be heard. And, with their records hitting the shops soon, it’s a fair bet that these boys will be clocking up some air miles.