Gig Reviews

Ethel, Kings Of Hearts, Ten To Never

Five days and counting. The end of The Gander as we currently know it is nigh, but it's not all doom and gloom cos, hey! Ethel are here! Releasing their brand spanking new ep 'Gods Of TV' with support from Ten To Never and Kings Of Hearts, Ethel's Joe, Nick and Dougal have the ability to put smiles on faces through both their music and, er... the smiles on their faces.

Up first and half-sized were Ten To Never, with Romin and Tim playing guitars and percussion. Having recently seen them play at the Le Bateau finale, and enjoying their unplugged style set enormously, this was further stripped down, though unlike Le Bateau where their sound suited the vibe perfectly, this was a little lost, preceding two thickish chunks of rock.

Not that the set was lacking in volume. Romin's vocals are certainly weighty, and the sound was still the latin-tinged fluent rock you'd expect from the full band. But without the full force of Jean-Paul and Paul's guitar and bass this never really seemed to grab the audience. It also took a while for the audience to reach decent numbers, and by the time it did, their set was coming to an end. Still, the best was saved to the end with a heavily percussive jam – toms a go-go. Kyps' on Sunday should see these guys at their best, on home turf with wind behind them.

More suited to the occasion were Kings Of Hearts, like Ethel this is three-piece riff heavy rock. No bullshit, no pretence, just three guys rockin'. With such a basic formula for this to be any good they've got to have the appeal of say, The Clams who bust balls with their sound, or just simply have bloody good songs. Kings Of Hearts come close to both, but fall short at times, the quality is there but at times it all gets a bit samey.

This is good, but not great, there's not enough to set them apart from thousands of other bands. A gimmick is the last thing they need, but they would benefit from an injection of originality, something which they would be remembered for. Having said that there is probably a mass-market appeal to Kings Of Hearts, good lookin' fellas playing formulaic riff-heavy rock. They'd probably sell records.

Ethel's brand of rock may be fairly formulaic and riff-heavy too, but there is a little more about their music which sets it apart. Tracks like 'Agoraphobiac,' 'Boy Genius' and 'Gods Of TV' are simply great songs with quality riffs and memorable choruses; yeah, it's nothing new but the whole Ethel package is a good one, they'd probably sell more records.

These guys bridge the gap between Green Day and Busted. That's a hell of a gap to bridge but for a three-piece they can really belt it out, properly rock, but the choruses are catchy in a 'pop' kind of way. Tonight's crowd were up for Ethel, but these guys make that easy. No nonsense, no pretence, no bullshit and no lack of talent and they do have a record for sale. Go to their MySpace and get yer mitts on their new ep 'Gods Of TV'. It'd be money well spent.

Tony Foster