March 27, 2000

Liverpool Lomax

[a]Blink 182[/a], [a]Fungus[/a], [a]Symposium[/a]... You've heard it all before...

Blink-182, Fungus, Symposium... You've heard it all before. Bands drip-fed during their supposed teenage angst years on the Pixies, Sonic Youth and Nirvana. Vacuous groups devoid of imagination, happy to be living bootlegs of their superior influences.

On the surface, deftly named Union Kid could be cast aside in the same ugly bracket. They claim they don't listen to any new music, and they don't know what their songs are about, they thrash out three chords, and make Roddy Woomble barks. Lead singer Sean Tuohey even looks like that twat in the hat from the New Radicals.

But they can be forgiven, as their music provides the vital edge and charisma that late-'90s grunge-pop had so little of. They burn through punk blasts such as recent single 'He Is Mono' with self-defiance and glory, and the set is topped off with drummer Mark Keates throwing his sticks into the crowd only for them to fall ironically onto the sparsely populated floor.

Union Kid may never sell a million records, they may not change your life and they'll probably only ever reach Number 27. But they provide the noisiest, most exciting and blistering pop music you've heard in a long time. For once the kids are all right.