Does anyone not love the Fulford Arms? You don’t well come and see me and let me educate you. This place is an awesome small, intimate venue where a fabulous range of great acts play. On top of all that the staff are a fab bunch too! Tonight the headliners in a show promoted by Under The Influence were the rather fabulous Faux Pas. But more about them later, first to take the stage were Pura Vida (my research tells me that this means pure life or simple life in Costa Rica) a northern powerhouse of a band from Yorkshire. It is just over a year since I last saw them play live and they are still incredibly difficult to pin down to a single genre. Tonight I had a great post punk vibe from them sprinkled with some Factory Records fairy dust. Some of the guitar work was reminiscent of John Squire at his Stone Roses peak they also performed an excellent cover of the Cure’s “Love Song” and they have some great self penned songs too. If you set out to not like this band you would fail, so don’t even try immerse yourself in a pure and simple life with the music of Pura Vida.
Next were the staggeringly talented Lost Trends from York. Why the hell are this band not absolutely huge? They had a few months sabbatical but they are back with a bang that could be measured in megatons or on the Richter Scale. Their new EP ‘Time’ is a finely honed gem. Not many bands are able to combine the indie style with hard-hitting funky dance floor anthems while maintaining a punky attitude. One of the many things that I love about Lost Trends is that wherever they are on the bill and whoever else is playing they rock the stage as though they are the headliners, they never hold back. They treated the crowd to a towering version of “Time” which is a tune you have to move to, Peter Knaggs guitar on this track alone would run the Edge close. The highlight of their set for me was a floor shaking attack of one of their slightly older songs “DJ”. This is perhaps the fifth time I have seen them live and I hope it won’t be long before that runs in to double figures.
Now for the electrifying headliners Faux Pas, I first saw them late last year when their single “Shame” had just been released. They have a never-ending supply of power and energy. Ru Cowl is perhaps one of the finest front men around at the moment. While his image may draw on a punk ethos he is a complete original. The summer dress, badly applied lipstick and the word RUNT scrawled across his chest can only be pulled off by someone with courage and of course talent. Without talent it would be all image, but FauxPas have talent in abundance. Apparently the literal translation of Faux Pas from French to English is ‘false step’, as for Faux Pas the band there is nothing false about them, they are most definitely ‘4 Real’. This show is part of a tour to promote their current single “TV Made Me Paranoid”. The song builds from a slow almost menacing start into something akin to Placebo on steroids. If they are playing your town make sure you’re there, that’s an order!
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 