Film Review: Nowhere Boy

Nowhere Boy might open with a chord ripped straight from 'A Hard Day's Night', but this is emphatically not a Beatles film. Whilst fab four aficionados will hoover up the references to the 'future' Lennon (the schoolboy John doodling a walrus in his exercise book, or cycling past 'Strawberry Fields' cemetery) they'll be left frustrated by the lack of big screentime devoted to the band themselves, even in their earlier guise as the Quarrymen. The film is light- perhaps too much so- on the music; McCartney is given only a couple of scenes, and Harrison a contrived-feeling cameo.
But given that the young band leader Lennon comes across, probably somewhat accurately, as an absolute dick- rude, selfish, arrogant, and mindlessly destructive- the decision to direct the film's attentions elsewhere is perhaps wise.
In it's place, and central to the film's success, is the relationship between Lennon's strict if caring aunt 'Mimi' (brilliantly portrayed by Kristen Scott Thomas) and that of his promiscuous, eccentric and at times uncomfortably flirtatious mother Julia (played here by the equally talented Anne Marie Duffy.) What ensues is a highly enjoyable and somewhat refreshing take on the oft-told Beatles story; and even if the Beatles are nowhere to be seen, Nowhere Boy certainly is to be. 8/10

Album Review: Vampire Weekend, Contra

Vampire Weekend have created quite a niche for themselves. In 2008, their debut album- styled by the band themselves as ‘Upper West Side Soweto’- showcased a unique combination of Afro Pop, classical music and Indie pop that had critics swooning. With the release of this, their intriguingly titled follow-up, they have added electro accents and M.I.A samples to that already considerable mix, whilst somehow managing not to spoil the broth. Opener ‘Horchata’- name-checking as it does a Mexican rice drink best enjoyed in the summer- may be ridiculous, but second track 'White Sky' might just be their best to date- Along with lead-single 'Cousins' it is ridiculously catchy, and although 'Cousins' features that chimpish ‘eh-ehing’ already heard on 'A-Punk', the song races along with such pace and seethes with such energy that this listener has no time to care. 'Run' is brilliant too- each verse building up into an infectious multi-layered musical chorus, whilst the bizarrely-in-vogue Auto-Tune makes, for once, a useful contribution to a song on the outrageously fast-paced 'California English'. 'Giving Up The Gun' is a welcome break from Ezra Konenig's occasionly irritating high-pitched boyish vocals, whilst 'I Think Ur A Contra' is almost a ballad- slow and oddly phrased it brings an interesting, varied and accomplished album to a close. And whilst Vampire Weekend may not be every one’s cup of Horchata, there's no disputing their unique sound will take some stopping. 7/10

Live Review: The Pogues, Brixton Academy, December 19th

To see the Pogues this close to Christmas is to expect two things. The first is that if Shane MacGowan shows up he’ll be very well out of it; and the second is that 'Fairytale Of New York' will be the best received song of the evening. On both counts, no one was left disappointed, but their was so much more to this marathon set than predicting the extent of MacGowan's inebriation and that song.
After support from King Blues- a band who's members were so enthusiastic and disparate in appearance that they looked like a product of Jack Black's School Of Rock- MacGowan ambled onto the stage to growl out 'Streams Of Whisky.' A cigarette in hand, and a table-cum-minibar just an arm's length away- he told us with some urgency that he was ‘going to where streams of whisky are flowing’, when in truth, both he and his audience were already there. He slurred his way through an epic set- 'Sickbed Of Cúchulainn', 'Sally MacLellane', 'Irish Rover'- each and every performance sending the punks and drunks in attendance into a frenzy- and the band wisely saved that song for a second encore. Ofcourse, it was sheer magic- Shane and Ella Finer waltzed together beneath a tumble of fake snow- a fitting and Fairytale ending to an excellent night. 9/10