Whispering Bob and Mecca at The Dolly

It seems that Mecca are pretty concerned about being compared to Radiohead. In my opinion I cannot see how they are alike at all, except for the links that they went to the same school. Part of the problem with this group is their lack of humility. I'm sure if I sit down and chat to them they are nice blokes, but the lead singer puts me off a bit. Throughout their set he seemed to be acting the big rock star that he (probably) wished he was, holding his hands behind his neck while screaming into the microphone and reaching up to touch the low ceiling of the venue.

Their music is OK, the typical 'indie' band mix of guitar and drums. If I had not already heard their demo CD, I would be unable to tell the songs apart, except for a very strange poetry/song thing in the middle of the set. At this point much of the audience, apart from their friends, seemed to lose interest. Luckily I was standing at the back of the venue as I found myself giggling away at the effect this 'song' and its random lyrics had.

Whispering Bob have improved so much from the last time I saw them six months ago. Robin, the lead singer, no longer looks tense on stage and he was able to joke with the audience. They were a refreshing contrast to Mecca, just because they had the ability not to take themselves too seriously. Their songs bridge the gap between folk and indie, although they are more on the rock side than the country acoustic side. Not only did they do slow songs, but they had more full on noisy songs.

Some of the stand-out tracks of the night were Dream On, with its middle section when the guitars just create this whole amazing barrier of noise, and Miser cat, 'about a cat who's miserable' just because of its lovely 3 way harmonised chorus. 'Punk it, sock it, rock it' (or something like that) is already a live classic, for this group not even one year old. This is partly because of the audience participation, yelling 'What's that Bob?' before each chorus, and the moshing that occurs during the chorus. Also memorable is the b-side to their debut single. If you have the chance catch this band live before they become too famous, and remember to ask them to play 'Punk it'.