Paranova @ The Old Cock (Halifax)
By Andy DevlinThe Old Cock has recently been celebrating the renewal of is entertainment license, and a decent sized crowd had assembled in what is the town's temple of live music.
The support slot was filled by a band new to my ears, a swampy rock outfit named The Roller 6ix. The band performed a tight and varied set, only marred by the vocalist's decision to shout rather than sing at times. However, their ability was evident on covers such as The Doors, "Love Her Madly", a choice that gained the band instant respect and credibility in the Indie den I was situated.
The only criticism which could be directed at The Roller 6ix is that their covers dramatically out-shone their own efforts, leaving the impression that the band are just a strong covers band. It remains to be seen whether they are anything more.
The dramatic entrance of Paranova was straight out of the Britpop textbook.
First came the instrumentalists, who duly settled into a bass driven instrumental. Although this demonstrated the bands compact sound, it lacked any real direction and fizzled out to scattered applause.
Next, the introduction of the bands front man.
At this point I began to feel as if I had fallen through a strange lager drenched time warp, taking me straight to Knebworth 1997. Paranova's vocalist really believes he IS Liam Gallagher. The stance, the swagger, the clothing, everything about his onstage persona would have Gallagher Junior spitting out his false teeth!
The bands obvious fixation with Oasis was evident from the word Go (Let It Out). A heavy Britpop/rock affair, which did show promise in such self-penned tunes as, "The One" and particularly, "To Love Is To Listen", which sounds like early Stone Roses beefed up with a fashionable Led Zepp rhythm section. This was easily the highlight of their set, and a definite favourite with their fans.
However, as the set wore on I found it difficult to decipher what Paranova are trying to achieve. As The Roller 6ix had excelled in covering their heroes wholesale, Paranova simply borrow elements of their influences' records and re-hash them into something a lot less interesting. Its like smashing up a Ferrari to put its wheels on a Ford Escort.
Paranova claim to be "The Best band in the North". On this performance the band possess neither the invention nor creativity to even be the best band in Halifax.
