Union Jackass @ New Roscoe
By Paul GearyI'm sat at the Irish Centre, it's about 8.15pm, I'm lost. See, me being a complete tit I didn't think to check how to get to the Roscoe. As a regular gig goer you'd have thought I'd have been before, but the Roscoe's path and mine have never crossed. Strange eh? Anyways, 5 minutes later and some good Samaritan from the Roscoe has drove up to fetch me. How embarrassing. Well never mind. On with the Rock!
First up tonight are Pontefract's very own That's Called Stealing. This is their 3rd gig and blimey Charlie they're not half bad. In fact they're great. Mixing up a blend of Kid Dynamite and pop favourites Whippersnapper, it's really infectious stuff. Tony Artizan rocks like a good un as do the rest of the band. And a nice time is had by all. Pop or melodic punk gets a lot of shit as being juvenile or frowned upon by the majority of Mr Spock haired emo nancies or scarf wearing NME types. Stop being snobs and get some hook-laden melody in your life! You never know you might like it!
Next up are the Local Heroes. It's their first gig tonight and judging by the sounds coming from the amplifiers it's also the first time they've picked up their instruments. Rabbits in the headlights. I m not being funny, but I really don't think these boys are quite ready as a band or as individuals to be playing live yet. Maybe after a few months more practice and taking a look at where they want to be as a band they might make a really good band. Too many bands jump into playing when basically they're not good enough. All that this does is tarnish the name of their band, if and when they do get better people don't wanna know. You know the old saying "first impressions last"? Well nothing's truer in the fickle world of music.
Up next are Union Jackass. Three-piece local lads with a penchant for pop punk. Tight, melodic and in parts anthemic, mixing up sounds of Jawbreaker and in parts pop-meisters The Ataris, it makes for a hooky individual and memorable sound. Great stage presence, the drummer really goes through the (e)motions as do the other chaps. It does really twang on my heartstrings when I see a band really enjoying what they're playing and it shows tonight that these three are loving it. These lads need to get their faces out there more often and get the decent following they deserve. Only criticism would be to drop the cover, that's my personal opinion, I don't like to see an original band doing an unoriginal cover. But horses for courses eh?
