Everybody, and I mean everybody, is at the O2 tonight watching TynchyStrider. It’s probably the safest place to be, and frankly they don’t miss anything from openers Secret Rivals. Their MySpace demos whizz past with no great focus or attention to detail, and the live show is pretty reflective of that attitude. Yelpy shouting of empty slogans meets one-dimensional high speed pop punk fuzz. I’m sure the kids of today love this kind of stuff and find some deep meaning in it somewhere, but it left me feeling devoid of any attachment or feeling. There’s nothing wrong with simplicity in music, but simplicity needs to be backed up with something else that gets the attention – hooks, aggression, carefully crafted arrangements, smart lyrics, a great vocalist, stage presentation, something, anything. Sadly, the Rivals are shown up by their lack of ideas and underdeveloped songwriting, but at least they have the youth and enthusiasm on their side to change that.
The Wookies are altogether a different squid. Ostensibly they’re more or less straight-up guitar pop, but they have a nice line in waltzy arrangements, cheekily dropping in odd time signatures and hooky guitar and synth lines. Crucially, every instrument is adding something that both supports the song and is also interesting and creative on its own, something the previous band could learn a lot from. Standout member tonight is the bassist, who breaks a string early on, swiftly grabs the Rivals bassist’s instrument (presumably with the latter’s permission) and carries on. He’s got a mighty tone and is both dextrous and tasteful. The four vocalists aren’t quite balanced in the PA, which detracts slightly from the harmonies and different lead parts, but the anthemic “In the Forest” ends a strong set.