Where: The O2 Academy, Bristol
When: Thursday 17th January 2013
http://youngkato.bandcamp.com/
The Bristol Academy, the place I frittered away the majority of my student loan on endless amounts of cheap vodka and coke every Friday night. That was back in the Carling days nearly 10 years ago, step in there now and it looks (and smells) exactly the same, but it’s filled with a new generation of Converse clad cool kids.
I’m back tonight to see Young Kato, a self certified alternative pop band, who according to my boyfriend ‘seem ok’. Quite the accolade. I like to do my research so I listened to a couple of their tracks on youtube, and they sound like they could be easily added to my current Spotify favourites playlist.
YOUNG KATO
After making our way to the Academy 2 (or little upstairs room, which is a more accurate description) I can’t help but notice that two distinct groups have formed. There are the hormonally charged crowd of rowdy young teenagers, and the slightly awkward looking parents at the back. We take our place in the no man’s land that has formed between the two, revelling in the fact that there’s a massive benefit to a mainly underage crowd - a clear path to the bar at all times.
The second support band, Words We Live By, have already started. They are noticeably young, so teeny and cute you could pick them up and put them in your pocket. Some of the aforementioned ‘slightly awkward looking parents’ belonged to these boys. Sadly my stand out memory of them was their Arctic Monkeys cover. And it’s not that I don’t like the Arctic Monkeys, you cannot deny they have a distinct sound and a dreary northern charm. And that’s exactly the problem, a young ‘un from Portishead doing his best Alex Turner impression just didn’t really work. I’d like a support band to grab my attention with a 10 minute showcase of original material.
Another pint of easily acquired cider later and the third support band, Portia Conn, are on stage. They have a female lead singer. Pretty, lovely hair. It’s just a shame some of the high notes aren’t quite so lovely. I was distracted though by a very personal conversation with my boyfriend of which I’ll have to gloss over the details and move on!
As soon as they start playing their guitars you can tell they are the main act. Young Kato are noticeably head and shoulders above their support acts, 80s throwbacks with hair Nick Grimshaw could only dream of. Lead singer Tommy Wright brings an intensity to their performance, he’s in the moment and sometimes seems to be in a world of his own. You can tell they’re signed [to LAB records, not too shabby for a bunch of 18 year olds from Cheltenham].
One of their big songs, ‘Break Out’, is a live life, play guitars kind of anthem. Think Editors or Athlete, with a bit of sparkle. ‘Drink, Dance, Play’ is more upbeat, easy to dance to, and will be stuck in your head for hours. ‘Life’s Good’ is my personal favourite, melodic and sing-a-longable with lines like “if you see it coming, you call out my name and I’ll come running”. Listening to the other track from their EP ‘Revolution’ I’m struck by how much the vocalist sounds like Morrisey. It’s uncanny actually. He manages to evoke that gritty realism of an 80’s Smiths, for a new generation of eager listeners. Their music certainly has influences dating back to a decade in which they weren’t even born. I’d also like to point out, as an aside, that the first song to come on the speaker system when the band had finished was The Smiths. Coincidence?
I hope they’ll come back and play in the main Academy next time. Worth the £6 face value? Undoubtedly.
