BALLBOY
Camden Monarch 12th April 2002
When
I mention Ballboy to someone earlier they reply "oh they're Peel
favourites aren't they?", almost as if there was something wrong with
that particular label. The only thing wrong with it is that it's
unspecific - Peel favourites could mean anything, you just have to look
at the guy's playlist!
However, Ballboy are more correctly "Peel-listeners favourites", one of
those bands who make a great showing in the Festive 50 but
unfortunately have little critical or commercial success to back it up.
Their occasionally humourous titles and tuneful indie-pop suggest that
fans of Hefner, Tompaulin, the Lucksmiths and even the Wedding Present,
would be suckers for Ballboy. Although they're headlining, this is
technically a club night in the Monarch, so they do well to win a few
people over during their set. [And a top tip for the clubbers -
remember if you don't like the band upstairs you can go downstairs -
you'll find it easier to talk and you'll get served quicker at the bar!]
Tonight is the first time I've seen Ballboy, and they're actually more
powerful live than I would have expected. They also should be
congratulated for writing about everyday Scottish life and managing not
to sound like Arab Strap or Irvine Welsh. Opening song 'Donald in the
Bushes with a bag of Glue' may sound like either of those fellow Scots
from the title, but in reality it sounds like a typical Ballboy song.
If anything they remind me of the Lucksmiths, but since no-one has
heard of the Lucksmiths in the UK I guess that's a good thing!
Certainly new single 'All the Records on the Radio are Shite' (which
the singer tells us was savaged by the NME!) and tunes like 'Avant
Garde Music' make a case for Ballboy following in the footsteps of
Hefner. Uptempo indie pop with clever lyrics, if you like that sort of
thing you should check them out.
Peel favourites (sorry!) 'I've got Pictures of you in Your Underwear'
and 'They'll Hang Flags from Cranes' are two of the highlights, while
the moodier 'I Hate Scotland' balances lines like "I hate the way you
expect to fail/ then you're bitter because you've failed" with "I'd
trade it all in for a springboard and a pair of shorts and a perfect
backflip". Not as bleak as its title then!
I was fairly ignorant about Ballboy before tonight, but I reckon I'll be checking out more of their material in the future.