September 27, 1998

London WC2 12 Bar Club

When they aren't tripping over loose wires or engaging in arcane banter, Salako are frequently brilliant...

It must be a clause in the contract, something about passion being the necessary enemy of precision. For Hull's Salako are playing their first official London show and, much like Jeepster labelmates Belle & Sebastian, they're keen between-song instrument swappers and masters of the unfinished anecdote. It's endearingly annoying and, of course, annoyingly endearing.

Not that this foursome are a shambles. Rather, it's a case of life imitating art. See, their debut album 'Re-inventing Punctuation' introduced us to a scattershot pick'n'mix eclecticism shakily grounded in Simon & Garfunkel - imaginative in content and maverick in spirit, but bloody awkward to pin down. Ever the jokers, tonight, Salako do skiffle as, guitars at 45 degrees and faces beaming, James Waudby and Dave Langdale lean on each other's shoulders and croon through 'Sun And Moon Conspire' and sweet single 'Growing Up In The Night'. A record no-one bought, they tell us. At least 15 times.

Still, when they aren't tripping over loose wires or engaging in arcane banter, Salako are frequently brilliant: 'For Inspiration Only' is a giddy two-minute skip through Beck's entire oeuvre while 'Go On Then! Enlighten Me, Why Doncha' is a fitful blend of jowl-wobbling noise and sugary psychedelia, as self-indulgent as its title.

Passion rules, then. Precision can wait.

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