– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER –
The French, cigarette smoking, beret toting sock puppet poet that greets me as I enter the Soup Kitchen (though he wasn’t literally working on the door) is not the same one that finishes the support slot around 20 minutes later. Oh no, we are treated to a merry-go-round of comedic footwear ranging from a squeaky butter wouldn’t melt mini frog telling an extended joke about choking people in a well-known supermarket to a talking sponge named Pico, who sings about Star Wars and ends with a genuinely hilarious sketch about Michael Finnegan, of “fishing with a pin again” fame. Surely, Puppetual Motion is one of the best supports I’ve seen for a very long time.
And Postcards From Jeff is the most complete, fully-formed new band I’ve heard for a long time – though what you’re really hearing is actually the result of 18 months hard work. Pronouncing like Leonard Cohen, with the tiniest hint of Bobby Gillespie occasionally rearing up (live at least anyway), singer Joss Worthington and his band hold forth with the poise, skill and confidence of a band selling out stadiums. That there’s a long way to go is an exciting prospect. Musically, they’re somewhere between the dreaminess of Mercury Rev and the vastness of some of Sigur Ros’ poppier stuff. Single ‘A House’, which has clocked up over 18,000 hits on Youtube in the past month or two, is greeted warmly, as is next single ‘Awake’, both from the eponymous début EP.
It’s a short set, more of a 45 minute teaser than anything else, but if this is Postcards from Jeff’s base level, they will have us in the stratosphere in no time at all, which is presumably where they want to take us. I’m on board!
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I started out writing for the Manchester Evening News as a freelance journalist back in 2008. The idea that I would be given free access to music and gigs seemed somehow miraculous to me, and I proceeded to take full advantage of the situation. When the M.E.N. decided to constrict its coverage to only the very biggest bands, Simon Poole approached me with a plan to make sure that all the very talented musicians of this world that pass through and/or live in Manchester would not go unnoticed. As the New Releases editor here at Silent Radio Towers, it remains my proud duty to cast a critical eye over the music and reviews that come my way in a manner that is both supportive and fair. Above all, I strive to write as entertainingly possible. Favourite musicians include the Pixies, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Mercury Rev, Os Mutantes, The Knife, Beach House etc etc. I'm a firm believer that all genres (except nu-metal) contain music of great quality...
