Norwich is a city which is often mocked, mainly thanks to a rather overrated “comedy” program on BBC 2, but this really isn’t fair. Yes it may be in the middle of nowhere and yes some of the locals are a little bit strange and talk funny, but for a city around a third of the size of Croydon its pretty damn good. There are three good music venues, the most atheists as a proportion of the population in the UK and more importantly a pub for every day of the year. Not only that. but Norwich is also home to a small but promising music scene, and that dear reader is why we are here today. Le Tetsuo are one of a number of upcoming bands in Norwich and were celebrating the release of their new EP 'I Understand If You Speak Slowly' at the Norwich Arts Centre.

The first thing I noticed, with some alarm was how young they are. In fact they were probably the first band that I have seen who are younger than me, an unusual and not entirely pleasant realisation. But you aren’t here listening to my premature midlife crisis. Le Tetsuo are a three piece whose vocals are split between the Jack White-esque guitarist Jack and the vaguely Justine Frischmann-ish Charlie. This mix might get you excited or rather probably makes you think that I’m talking out of my arse but really it’s true, but not quite as good as it sounds it might be.

At the high points of the gig Le Tetsuo sound like a band that could go very far, but at the low points, especially early on in the set, they sound like a high school band who should be concentrating more on their coursework. The high points come when Jack takes centre stage, not only is his voice much stronger than Charlie’s, he also has the stage presence to match it. Le Tetsuo’s problems fall into two areas, firstly and most problematic, is that they don’t seem to have anything to say. Yes we all like songs about sex, but it would be nice to have a little more depth. Secondly Charlie’s solos tend to be quite weak, while still ok they lack the sense of a band who could really go places.

Give them a few more years and Le Tetsuo could be another name to add to Norwich’s nice little scene along with Kaito, Bearsuit and Magoo. For now they are a band that are full of potential but need to take good look at themselves and reorganize if they really want to go places.

Review by Christian Madden

www.mummywheresthemilkman.tk