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home » festivals » Hard Rock Calling » Hard Rock Calling 2009
Newcomers Chew Lips kick off the Friday with a buzzing setHard Rock Calling 2009 reviewFriday 3rd July 2009 Being the opening band at a festival can be a somewhat uncomfortable slot. Then again, it’s pretty clear no one told Chew Lips frontwoman Tigs this. Despite a lazy, sparse crowd she's clearly ecstatic to be here, greeting the punters with a warmth most of us find it hard to conjure before 5 o' clock on a Friday. "How the fuck are you?" she gushes. "I'm so excited to be here, there are so many of you." There aren't, but there's no faulting her enthusiasm. As a band hotly tipped by the likes of Steve Lamacq over the last year or so, Chew Lips are yet to make a substantial splash in the mainstream. Judging by the quality of their performance today, that's the mainstream's loss and a state of affairs that will no doubt be redressed very soon. The band are essentially purveyors of the most refreshingly sexy electro-dance anthems this side of Daft Punk, with the additional blessing of Tigs' sultry, yearning voice making them stand out from more sharp-edged electronic bands like Crystal Castles. Not exactly coming under the 'hard rock' bracket then, but as the singer jokingly points out, "neither are The Killers are they?" Weaving their way through a handful of songs today, they sound sleek, tight and utterly enticing. The strength of Chew Lips might lie in the collision of old and new; they have a degree of uniqueness to them, but it's easy to draw the dots between their sound and a plethora of other bands. 'Karen' has a Blondie-ish tinge to it (via New Cross rather than New York), 'Toro' sparks memories of Everything But The Girl, whilst 'Gold Key', the first song of the festival to be dedicated to Michael Jackson, is an imperious glam stomp. From start to finish the band are clearly loving it, moshing along to every song with abandon, and the vibe is infectious. Things are wrapped up with current flagship track 'Solo'. That rarest of beasts, it's a song that demands there's at least one part of your body nodding along while simultaneously giving off that delicious, spine-tingling sensation. Vocally, it's reminiscent of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O being stuck in a blender with the Cold War Kids, and is pretty special. A great set then, and a magnetic start to the weekend. review by Nick Hagan |
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