Joy Zipper, ULU

It is with great regret that I have to report our first mediocre gig of the year – it’s not that either of tonight’s bands are bad, it’s just that they’re not so great either.

Our copy of the NME says that tonight’s support bands are 10,000 Things and Victor Malloy. Unfortunately, we only et one support band and they don’t tell us their name. Maybe they are Lucky Jim, who have been on tour with Joy Zipper over the three other dates of the UK tour. It doesn’t really matter anyway – its probably enough to say that they are from Leeds with a singer who dances like Shane McGowen and sings with an American accent. In between songs the singer, who goes by the name of Sam, blathers on to the crowd in a broad Leeds accent trying to get us to talk to him - everyone looks on bemused.

And so on to Joy Zipper, who are actually from America – we get full American schmaltz from singer/keyboard player Tabitha Tindale when she comes on stage - “Hi there, how are y’all doing tonight”.

The songs sit somewhere between Sonic Youth, Grandaddy and Spirtualized, with tracks lifted from the current album America Whip and the last album The Stereo And God. The most entertaining thing about tonight is the heckler who attempts to have a conversation with the band after every song. Unfortunately, being nice people and not being from these parts, they answer him early on in the gig and that’s it – the pattern is set for the rest of the evening – he request’s songs; he tries to impress Tabitha with his knowledge of their early singles. This over interaction with the crowd ends with a disastrous sing along where the mic is passed to members of the audience to sing the refrain.

The only other high point is when Vincet Cafiso Jokes about splitting up Joy Zipper and forming a metal band. Hearing this joke the drummer brakes into the opening of Rock And Roll by Led Zeppelin and we wish he would continue.
- posted by Nigella @ 8:12 PM