You know all those things your parents think make up rock’n’roll? The tattoos, the drugs, the haircuts and volcanic volume levels? Well, most of them can be found here tonight. There may only be a handful of people watching, but this show has the thrill of a black celebration.
Tonight’s heroes are gloriously unreconstructed. It looks like the nearest this lot have ever come to clubbing involved a baby seal. Unlike their somewhat flat recent singles, live Soulbossa spit and burn, a bizarre gene splicing between [a]Rocket From The Crypt[/a] and [a]Sonic Youth[/a].
It’s the sheer volume that impresses. If you’ve forgotten what proper electrified music sounds like or missed its cheap thrills, then Soulbossa are an example to us all. Peter Jones (vocals/guitar) and Tracy Bellaries (bass) have been around for years, but have just got louder as time and success have passed them by. If they were from California rather than Lancashire they’d be Buckcherry, but as it is, ‘Love Among The Stars’ and ‘In The Wrong’ have a healthy dose of nasty urban stickiness and pleading northern soul.
They even have the imagination to kick a couple of mic stands over as they exit. Not something, unfortunately, you see every day.