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The Black Velvets @ Astoria, London, 02.12.2004

Black Velvets

As British as pasty white legs and chips wrapped in last night’s Evening Post. James Berry shares an evening with The Black Velvets.

20/12/2004

It might be worth remembering that once upon a time there was no rock (correct pronunciation: raw-KKK). There was actually a time Before Rock, and that time wasn’t all that long ago relativity speaking. A touch further back through the ages and there was also a time Before Denim (stonewash or otherwise). Of course there’s been cocksure one-track testosterone-driven male chest-beating since the dawn of time, or since Adam picked up the scent at least. But we and our children – and their children and their grandchildren etc. etc. – are destined to sit through all three simultaneously on a continuous cycle about every 15 years or so, just long enough for the last generation’s embarrassments to be lost in history’s blender.

Whatever the current revival is based upon – kitsch nostalgia, suppressed extroversion, pyromaniac tendencies – few can deny that as a genre its foundations are far from assured. It’s like millions were caught off-guard laughing politely at a non-PC joke and can do little else now than take comfort in each others’ actions and/or insist they were being ironic all along. Apart from A&R men of course – they have no shame and damnit, there’s money to be made here, kiddo! So the Black Velvets arrive in the first wave of reactionary signings off the back of The Darkness’ ludicrous success. Two reactions, initially. Fuck me, they do what it says on the boulder (pronunciation, of course: raw-KKK) don’t they. And fuck me, aren’t they dead British.

As British as pasty white legs and chips wrapped in last night’s Evening Post. And that’s not just for their quasi-religious primal devotion to riff. It’s especially for the fact that singer Paul Carden’s vocal chords can be found proudly nestled amid the woodchip lying figuratively beneath the collective larynx of Noddy Holder, Paul Rogers and (yikes!) Joe Elliot. This may sound like some long-neglected horror b-movie concept, and taken in isolation probably is, but here it seems strangely rousing and appropriate. Pompous and gruffly stylized too of course, but importantly we don’t want to voodoo-doll his head off like we do with Kelly Jones.

What it fits so well to is unpretentiously grubby 70s rock with a fat glam injection. And its balls out (we did mention the testosterone-driven male chest-beating). It’s just tentative, baby steps really, but they’ve got swagger too. And while they hardly take the scenic route – most of the set’s like ‘Spread Your Love’ rolled in tar with a cruchy grit filling – they take it for a fair spin. There’s one track that cops the riff from The Seahorses’ ‘Love Is The Law’, which is unfortunate, but they claw some ground back by making it seem Jimmy Page’s influence fell asleep on its journey to John Squire’s fingers and missed its stop. The single ‘Get On Your Life’ stands pretty tall amid its company, a glorious romp through T-Rex’s steelier moments on overdrive, but its not completely alone.

This is rock the British way, without the accessories The Darkness drown themselves in. And if there is to be rock forever, as it would seem destiny is to have it, it’s nice to know there might be some ripple of good taste amid the mass of historical artifacts, sew on patches and uniformly larger right biceps.



James Berry for Crud Magazine 2004©

October - December 2004- News Archive


10/04 22-20s Interview
10/04 22-20s Live - Forum, London
10/04 Art Brut, Ikara Colt, Electric Soft Parade - Live - Goldsmith's College, London
10/04 Biffy Clyro - Live - Camden Electric Ballroom, London
10/04 Black Velvets - Live - London Astoria
10/04 Delgados, Six By Seven - Live London Coco
10/04 Dizzee Rascal - Roadmender, Northampton
10/04 Hope of the States - Live - London Astoria
10/04 Read Yellow, Northampton Soundhaus
10/04 Sons and Daughters, University of London
10/04 The Others - Live - London Marquee
10/04 Top Ten Albums 2004


January 2001
July - August 2001
September - October 2001
November - December 2001
January - March 2002
April - July 2002
August - December 2002
January - March 2003
May - August 2003
November 2003
January - March 2004
April - September 2004

October - December 2004
January - March 2005
April - December 2005
January - August 2006
September - December 2006
January - September 2007
October - December 2007


 
 
 

 

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