Four nerdy young men play in a cramped room. A poster of The Feelies hangs on the wall. Filmed in black and white, the look is both dated yet current, arty-farty yet down to earth. The video to the song Architecture tells you everything you need to know about this London-based band.
Their name means 'man-woman' in Polari, the East End slang used by London's gay community in the 1950s and 1960s. They liked the anti machismo bent of a term denoting an effeminate male homosexual.
Younger listeners will link them with happening new bands in the capital but in the unfussy lo-fi quality to their sound I hear something of early Smiths, The Wedding Present or Wire.
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They are not Punks per se but they definitely have the DIY attitude of early three chord wonders. The droll baritone voice of singer and guitarist Philip Serfaty is the perfect foil to the jangly beats
All 8 songs about buildings and other stuff are more or less three minutes long. To borrow the words of Nick Lowe, perfect pop for now people.
Omi Palone's blogspot
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