Tuesday 02/08/05 The Alterkicks, The Compulsives @ The Zanzibar, Liverpool

When your band’s regional make-up ranges from furthest East Anglia to the banks of the Dee, then the diverse musical shores of Liverpool are probably as good a place as any on which to take root. So it's that ‘hometown’ gig courtesy of Fierce Panda indie-darlings-in-waiting The Alterkicks that's taking place at an expectant Zanzibar tonight.  Warming up for the returning adopted sons are hotly-tipped alt.rockers The Compulsives, who serve up a tough yet polished set that goes some way to justifying the buzz surrounding them.  Tracks like ‘Braindead’ suggest ‘Gish’-era Smashing Pumpkins while falsetto-led ‘Americans On The Dancefloor’ hint that these boys’ talents may extend beyond a mere plundering of their early 90’s collections of U.S. rock.  ‘She Knows’ does reek slightly of emo self-loathing, but it’s a rare lapse, and in a climate in which Nine Blacks Alps are as likely to be on MTV2 as The Killers, The Compulsives could well be what many labels are looking for.

 

The Alterkicks, of course, are already on rotation all over the music channels and on tonight’s evidence, square-eyed indie-lovers can expect to see a lot more of these prodigious young fellas. Drawing on 60’s mariachi merchants Love, their sound often revolves around singer Martin Stilwall’s thunderous acoustic (notably so on opener ‘Talk Talk’), though guitarist Mike Oates’s effects-pedal wizardry lends the songs a dream-like quality that lifts them above being mere homage to Arthur Lee.  Moreover, a pop sensibility wins through time and again, as on new single ‘Oh Honey’, where Martin’s vocals – an intoxicating blend of James Skelly and Chris Martin – draw The Zanzibar faithful in to a ridiculously catchy chorus that recalls The Cure at their most playful. It’s not all headed for the soundtrack of the next series of Teachers however - a melancholic edge courses throughout; even the punchy waltz ‘That’s Not a Word’ is built around swirling minor chords.  But this is, after all, classic indie – a dose of glumness never did ‘Kicks’ heroes The Smiths any harm did it?  And, just as with their Mancunian forefathers, it certainly won’t stop people from rushing the dance floor to Alterkicks singles at indie nights all over the country in the coming year.