Although it's been quietly plying it's trade as a venue in recent times, tonight is W&H's first visit to Cork's nicely central Roundy Rooms. And one can only hope it's not the last either, for this is a fine small venue, combining comfortable modern decor with an intimacy reminiscent of the city's much-missed Lobby Bar. Definitely a place to catch discerning action in future.
But why wait for the future, because there's plenty of great music to absorb tonight . W&H are primarily here to catch notable Cork singer/ songwriter IAN WHITTY publicly launch his fine new single 'Houndstooth Shirt', but first up it seems we're in for an additional treat courtesy of Limerick's SUPERMODEL TWINS.
I'm sure it's simply W&H's own advancing age kicking in, but boy these lads are young. And hard-working, too, for their Myspace (www.myspace.com/supermodeltwins ) is laden with gigs over the next couple of months. More importantly, they've rehearsed the fuck out of their striking three minute pop grenades and proceed to lob them around liberally during the course of their all-too-short 35 minutes onstage.
Admittedly there's more of an Emo-related slant going down here than your reviewer would normally respond favourably too. Certainly the likes of Weezer and the under-rated All-American Rejects spring to mind, while singer Thom O'Keeffe even looks like an amalgam of a young Rivers Cuomo and an even younger Elvis Costello, but the Twins are harmonically superior to virtually of the Emo-pop contenders cluttering up the firmament, with songs like 'You're Not What I Need' and the deceptively melancholic shimmer of 'Love On It's Own' more than effectively demonstrating the band's melodic nous.
Besides, for all their youth and apparent Stateside preferences, Supermodel Twins often recall the best bits of the best homegrown performers from the past thirty years. You can hear faint echoes in everything from the way Alan O'Keeffe's niggly lead guitar bits sometimes recall Pete Shelley or the Tim Wheeler-style sigh in Thom's voice. Besides, when all the important things are really hitting home (like the way bassist Bertie Kelly plays all that great, counterpoint melody stuff and drummer Denny Dunworth is unflappably solid throughout) then you simply know a band have it pegged. Hell, new single 'Footprints' - which signs off tonight - not only has some of the best swerving guitars and "who-oh-oh"s around, but it eats, drinks and shits choruses to boot. Expect it to mash up Irish radio and to hear a lot more from these lads very soon indeed.
A less talented headline act may well have been more than rattled at this stage, but Cork's IAN WHITTY has been working up a formidable armoury of songs over the past few years and with his band THE EXCHANGE now has the skill, invention and firepower to more than do them justice regardless of the competition.
Taking to a stage subtly adorned with old telephones (The Exchange - geddit?), they proceed to pile into a succession of nervy, well-executed tunes like the city-dwelling modern-day paranoia storyboard of 'Bought & Sold' and the vivid song of letting go that is 'Walking To Meet You'. Once again, the band are exceptionally well-drilled: Whitty's own percussive guitar style meshes beautifully with Paddy Rahilly's driving basslines, versatile drummer Anto Noonan is subtle and/ or thunderous depending on the setting and watching real live string players (cellist Grace McCarthy and violinist Larissa O'Grady) is a tangible thrill. They add a real melodic frisson to a number of tunes and memorable depth to the anthemic 'Prettiest Dress' (amusingly introduced by Ian as a song about a girl at a festival who "it took at least 14 of my friends to tell me she was off her head on E") which reveals itself as a future killer single in waiting.
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Elsewhere, Whitty's folksier side is given full rein on downbeat, acoustic numbers such as the likeably brittle 'Two For Joy' and 'Falling Stars', but the set as a whole is paced beautifully, with the quieter selections punctuated by the punchier likes of 'Walking To Meet You' and the great, handclap-assisted 'Not On Your Side' which, with its' smart lyrical observations ("I lost my queen to a smarter rook") leaves you in no doubt of Ian's skill and dexterity as a wordsmith. It's this ability to turn a relatively simple subject into something especially his own that makes Whitty such a compelling performer, and nowhere is it more apparent than on his new single 'Houndstooth Shirt', where the promise of the weekend ("the high heels on the pavement are a symphony") is vividly realised before our very ears.
Inevitably, 'Houndstooth Shirt' receives the most rapturous reception of all, but if anything it's usurped by the encore: a wonderfully poignant tune of growing up called 'The Family Is Still Young', which - to these ears - is arguably Whitty's greatest song to date. It's kissed by sighing strings and its' reined-in arrangement merely enhances its' power. It's exquisite and the perfect way to let go of a set packed with real potential.
Quite a soiree then. Two top-class acts, crystal clear sound courtesy of Mr. Stan O'Sullivan and a venue deserving of serious patronage. Value for money by anyone's exacting standards in my book.
(http://www.myspace.com/ianwhitty)
(http://www.myspace.com/supermodeltwins)
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