September 8, 2000

London Camden Dingwalls

This evening nothing can dent [B]Monteiro[/B]'s starpower...

Perhaps they should blame those voodoo dolls that singer Isobel Monteiro is so fond of, since it seems that Drugstore's every stab at fame has ended in bloody failure.

This evening, though, nothing can dent Monteiro's starpower. A prima donna, she taunts and spits beer at us, but she's so charismatic that she could nick your last fiver and you'd still offer her the keys to your house. Then there's that voice; that husky Brazilian wisp, equally flirtatious, childlike and world-weary, so seductive you'd give her the keys to your car as well.

For once, Drugstore aren't just Isobel and some nondescript blokes. Tonight they play with a concentrated togetherness that only makes their armoured Mazzy Star beauty more entrancing. The exuberant forthcoming single 'I Want To Love You Like A Man' is a sexy tango, while the "big hit", 'El President', is so gorgeous you almost forget Thom Yorke's warbling ever had anything to do with it. Never mind that much of the new stuff is less immediate - you're too busy being lightly pummelled with feathery riffs and soothed with cello to complain.

"I don't think I've ever had a better time," gushes Isobel. It's a dramatic exaggeration, of course. But then, that's her job.