Detroit Social Club
Where: The Sugarmill, Stoke
When: Monday 8th February 2010
Since Detroit Social Club were last at The Sugarmill, they've been a bit busy. Signing to Fiction Records, touring with Primal Scream and finishing an album, which is out in May according to one of their street team, I would have had it straight from band themselves if my Gmail app was any good. They were in immense form last time, so they have a high bar to reach.
There's so much about the bluesy Geordie six-piece that you can't help but like, be it their no-nonsense stage-presence, the amount of feeling that's so evident or how natural their sound is. They've been tipped for big things for around three years now - and I'm reliably informed they had a page spread in a recent NME - so you'd expect the place to to be packed. But it isn't. And it's not too clear why.
The pounding sing-along anthem 'Black and White' is untouchable, raw and simple with the emphasis on singer David Burn's vintage, strained vocals. The mere £6 you have to pay seeing them is worth it for just 'Black and White'. It could build for about ten minutes and would never tire. Their most notable single to date and set closer 'Sunshine People' gets the biggest cheer, it's bigger and better live, going on to a rapturous climax.
Next single and set opener 'Kiss the Sun' is a more garagey, wailing guitars slight departure, but they still carry it off. The four voices come together to compliment Burn and add that 70's psych they seem to have found since Primal Scream. But they're at their best when they do punchy, bluesy rock and roll, and they do it better than most.
In one of Burn's few interactions he tells the handful of people that they'll be back next time to a full after a bit more radio play. And that makes you wonder if they've really gone anywhere, musically, since they were last here. The songs are as rootsy, BRMC-like rock and roll as ever, the voice is as brilliantly rough and Guy Garvey, so maybe they didn't need to.
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