Feeling utterly wrecked and with about two minutes to spare, I turned up at Bar Rhumba last Friday to see Jukebox Collective's first ever gig. In the interest of full disclosure, I should declare here and now that I used to play guitar for the lead singer's previous band, Dakar Rally. The vindictive, schadenfraude-seeking side of me wouldn't have minded seeing them bore the crowd to tears and make under-prepared fools of themselves, but thankfully they were great, and I can't recall ever seeing a band do a better first gig.
At first glance, doesn't the ammo-strap look like a guitar neck and the gun a microphone?That's not to say I won't nitpick. While Kev's vocals were much improved from some of the more dismal and lacklustre nights when we shared a stage together, he tailed off after a strong start in a way I recognised too well. I hope and expect that he'll improve as he gets used to playing regularly again and gets more comfortable with the set.
The band? They were well-rehearsed and looked good, although Zara's ice cool "I'm going to look bored and not give a fuck" approach to the keyboards definitely beat Greg's "They love me! They really love me!" style of guitar and magic-box-sampler playing. When the image-consultants come in, they'd do well to have a word and suggest he leave it for Kev to do the hard work of looking excited.
I'm really chuffed for them though, and hope they can build up some momentum over the coming months. The tunes are beepy, slightly hypnotic and catchy little numbers, and the second half of the set hinted at more interesting and varied things to come.
Anyway, below is a little sample of their first single, which although sadly not ready for the launch night, I'm told will be available on iTunes any day now. You can have a listen to the full version over on the irrepressible Myspace.
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