Bluebottle Kiss @ Cockpit
By Danny Martin
"A great name, it's a great name. They must be great." That was the logic that I mustered up as I walked through the Cockpit doors. Oh how wrong can one man be?
Forgive me if he ever makes it past the first hurdle but "Pocket God" (Great name, it's a great name) did nothing for me last night. Well I lie, he made me want to go to the toilet tonnes... and also to the bar... and occasionally bury my head in my hands... and, well you get the message.
I'm struggling now. Music reviewing in my mind is about finding an angle, finding praise to lavish an act with, finding constructive criticism to help stimulate and encourage someone. When all these options have been exhausted and the only way you can continue is to insult and embarrass someone then it's time to stop. So I will.
Just as my faith in music was been flushed brutally down the toilet by Mr. God, up stepped Chris Catylyst. Chris is the front man with Leeds band Catylyst and also the host / organiser of the Acoustic sets in the Cockpit. Due to a late pull out of one of the bands, Chris stepped up the mic, guitar in hand... aiming to fill a gap before the headliners. 30 minutes later that gap had been more than filled and had left me with an urgency to hear more of Catylyst's music.
Chris's voice is rasping, gnarly and to the ultimate pleasure of my female companion, very Cobain-esque. His set was in his own word "80's & 90s Pop tunes" and only once did he air a Catylyst tune, the stunning "Today" which was both infectious and beautifully sung. A definite crowd charmer, Chris managed to win back my attention, sit me up straight and prepare my ears and mind for the headline act. If in Chris's own mind this had been his job description for the evening, then job well done.
Bluebottle Kiss sound like a lot of bands you know. But unlike those other bands you know, something stands out with these guys. Something you cant really describe or emphasise. Something that makes them, well, better.
They herald from Sydney, where it seems they have a fairly strong fan base already, having toured with the likes of "Bonnie Prince Billy", "Morphine" and "Silverchair". They have set 2003 aside for a full-scale musical assault on both the UK and US. Although back home in Oz they are a four piece, only lead vocalist/guitarist Jamie Hutchings and bassist/lead guitarist Ben Fletcher have made the trip across the pond for an exhausting 16 day, 14 gig jaunt round the UK. It was a pleasure for me to hear them last night, not least as even playing a relatively small scale acoustic set, they still managed to captivate and intrigue.
Their style is a veritable melting pot of melodic, uncompromising vocals reminiscent of the likes of "Wilco" and fellow countrymen "The Bad Seeds", harnessed effectively alongside earnest, impelling guitar which Fletcher plays with a panache and assurance afforded to very few. Perhaps one of the most appealing things for me was the fact that no one song stood out as been superior to the rest... each song flowed so neatly and uninterrupted into the next song that although each one was strikingly different, the set as a whole became one.
A complex, refined performance which encaptured the appreciative audience right until the last chord. The likenesses to Coldplay will be inevitable should they make it in either the US of on these fair shores. But I don't suppose they or we should really care. For one this reviewer will be happy to see them back for more.
