Larkin Poe live @ Night and Day Cafe, Manchester

Ten seconds. 

That's all. 

Just ten seconds in to Larkin Poe taking the stage and I knew this was going to be one of the best gigs I've seen in a long time. They arrived in a whirlwind of power and energy,encapsulating everyone in the crowd as they jammed out a fierce opening.

The venue for tonight's gig is The Night and Day Cafe, an old haunt in Manchester where I caught the Civil Wars some years ago, and we're treated to an opening performance from Jarrod Dickenson. Hands up.  I hadn't heard of this guy before but boy, do I know who he is now. A burley Texan who took complete command of the stage whilst accompanied by his beautiful Irish wife. Jared definitely had the feel of David Rawlings about his playing with elements of Jason Isbell to his voice. I picked up a CD and I'll bring you a review of that very soon.

Jarrod Dickenson doing his thing.

As Jarrod took his bow and worked his way through the crowd, up stepped sisters Lovell and their merry band to make mayhem on stage. It almost feels like a refreshed band as their music has certainly taken a more rock based direction than the more mellow previous releases. It suits them. They bound off of each other on stage, smiles plastered on their faces and fly through the opening few tracks, even dropping into a spontaneous rendition of Black Betty which really got the crowd whooping and a hollaring.

Rebecca Lovell takes lead on vocals and guitars and is unwavering in her poise and purpose as she completely blows the roof off with her voice. When she really lets loose she channels the raw beauty of Janis Joplin, fuelled by emotion and flawlessly harmonic. Rebecca's sister, Megan, takes control of the slide guitar and I'm not doing her justice by saying her playing would be worth the admission fee alone. What Megan can do with the lap steel is beyond the realms of normality, it's a screeching, scrawling thunderclap that she masterfully uses to create ambience in the dialled down songs, room filling solos in the rockier numbers and the odd vocal battle.

In other words, they pair off perfectly.

Sisters are doing it for themselves. Rebecca and Megan.

We're treated to a performance of what will be their new single here in the UK, Sucker Puncher, and it's a triumph. If this single doesn't go on to capture the hearts of the Brits it will be a travesty. It offers up Americana true to their roots with a rocked up vibe.  A lot of the songs on the night ended with pacey jams largely due to the restricted sets they have been playing with Elvis Costello, so tonight was chance to let loose and thank the lords they did. This is when you see musicians in their purest form, free to attack the air with their brand of noise. You could sense a lot of grunge elements to the instrumentals, as my partner said "very swamp rock".

In what was a lovely touch, the sisters came out to meet all the fans and even had their album on sale despite not coming out in the UK for several months. I desperately wanted to get my hands on one but I had battled through my anxiety and panic attacks to reach the end of the gig, it was time for my great escape. So I implore you to be like me, get the piggy bank out and preorder what's going to be a powerhouse of an album.

It feels like your entrance just caused the temperature to rise

Everything you’ve come to expect.

The Last Shadow Puppets deliver nothing less but a whole lot more. They’ve sure changed since the baby faced first album some 8 years ago. Both have achieved great things in the time they were apart creatively and it has culminated in a humdinger of an album. A no skip album.

The British gent suits have been replaced with open shirts, bare chests and gold chains and I dare say that they have found what they should be, producing shoot from the hip, slick and greasy, 60’s and 70’s influenced sounds. There was critical acclaim for Age of The Understatement with its string accompanied serenades and powerful lyrics. It’s possible this album won’t get the same amount of acclaim with some music writers calling it “more of an in-joke than a band”.

Sure.

Miles Kane and Alex Turner are close and are creating something they want to hear and want to share. What’s wrong with that? Miles Kane is far more prominent in this album than the first and we can be grateful for that. His guitar playing adds an edge to the album and allows Alex to focus on his singing, which has come along no end. Songs like Sweet Dreams, TN show just how powerful a set of pipes he has, creeping through the words and jumping out for a huge finish with very minimal music behind it which adds to the beauty of the track and makes it my favourite off the album.

The musical craft on each song offers something different which keeps everything interesting. A luscious guitar riff on Aviation will have you humming it for days and for me takes from Arctics song My Propeller as it uses simple guitar to create a complex song. Dream Synopsis is a journey through the mind of Alex Turner to LA via Sheffield in the form of a jazz club house band. It’s a guitar down and mic up kind of album for Turner and you get the feeling that’s exactly what he wants with his loose hips and wandering hands.

The album offers up of a double bill of melancholic ballads with songs like “Miracle Aligner” and “The Element of surprise”. Both could easily have been pulled from a Lou Reed album and offer the best of the strings.

I read recently that Bad Habits was essentially a jam with Miles Kane going with what words came out and lasted around 45 minutes. This was whittled down for the album and offers a little rock relief which Kane gets to vent on and keeps on chugging with a chunky bass line and sharp strings.

The album is a sepia serenade with the sunset in the background, a midnight drive round a mountain side and the little umbrella in a cocktail all rolled together. They kept the strings but took everything else in a different direction and found songs of love, lust and lavish lifestyle.  

Regardless of some of the bad press they have had, strip away the joking interviews, the LA tan, the gold rings and loafers and what you’re left with is a damn good album. They have bucked the trend of old friends sharing some nostalgia and gone full throttle down the highway to something fresh, something that the charts don’t see anymore. I’d rather not wait another 8 years for the next album but if it is even better than this one, it will be absolutely worth it.

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HepkattFM