Joy

>SPECIAL NEEDS,
KILL CITY, THE FACULTY + NEW ROSY JEWELS
LONDON, NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB- 14.04.04

It's a day for celebration - not only have Special Needs just finished recorded their second single, the luscious 'Francesca', but it's also Needs frontman Zac's birthday. Add into the mix an intimate venue that last months saw Special Needs capture the hearts of all present with a triumphant show with Art Brut, and things are looking pretty promising all round.

But before the festivities can begin, we've got three other bands of growing repute to vie for our affections. First to chance their arms are NEW ROSY JEWELS who come armed with a natty selection of Pringle knitted jumpers and a singer with a passing resemblance

to Ardel O'Hanlon from Father Ted. Combined with New Order keyboards and new wave guitars, the set's all going rather swimmingly until three quarters of the way through they play a song that sounds like a jamming session between The Strokes and JJ72. This aberration aside, it's a pleasant, undemanding way to start us off.

There are plenty of bands present tonight, and most of them that I spoke to are here because they "Got an email off some band called THE FACULTY asking if they could support us" (in fact I was first attracted to the gig by a similar email asking for a review).

Strong understanding of e-marketing aside, The Faculty are a slightly garagey, slightly new wavey indie rock band with driving guitars, and slightly strained vocals, who show a few glimpses of promise amongst an otherwise listenable, but uninspiring set. Heads nod in time, then quickly head back to the bar as soon as the set is finished.

KILL CITY come with a chilling warning from my companions - "I think they're mates with the Libertines or something". Undeterred, my spirit hardened by a couple of bottles of Lütz (why can't you buy this stuff at any other venues?), I headed bravely towards the stage to accept my fate.

It was worse than even I had expected - Through their use of blandly competent female vocals, rock guitars and dance beats conjured up the spirit of Republica, long considered to have been expunged from everywhere but the nations sporting arenas, and no matter how many times the singer gesticulated or fiddled with her hat, no one was going to convince me that this could be right.

But it was going to take more than the ghost of Saffron reincarnated in fashionable headgear to ruin this night, for the best was very much yet to come, and it came in the form of five blokes from Acton with scruffy hair and

a fondness for 1950s rock and roll.

It starts with an anticipatory crowd baying for their favourite songs, the band toying with our emotions and unleashing wave after wave of joyously ragged guitars and

sweetly harmonised vocals.

It ends with Zac in the crowd, being given the birthday bumps, the audience grabbing his

mic to continue the songs in his absence, while the band hammer out the final throes of 'Motorbinking' before collapsing in a sweaty mess. Welcome to the wonderful world of SPECIAL NEEDS.

Somewhere in between the chaos, they find time to ply us with such

intoxicating gems of runaway rock and roll mania as first single

'Sylvia', now reworked to include a sunshine drenched vocal harmony introduction that would put the Beach Boys to shame; and it's successor, 'Francesca' a song so infectiously beautiful and melodramatic that it makes you want to meet a girl named Francesca and break up with her, just so that you can tell her that "We're not so jolly anymore (uh-or-uh-or-uh-ooooooooor)".

Things take a near impossible turn for the better with an exhilarating final treble salvo

of 'Stick Around', with it's bull in a china shop guitar line and manic vocals, the emphatic tourettes outburst of 'Roy', and finally, the one everyone's been waiting for...

"Motorbiking, motorbiking, motorbiking, motorbiking, motorbiking, motorbiking"

and that's just the crowd.

When Phil's hypnotic bassline, and the electrifying stab of guitar that

signals the beginning of the first verse finally kick it's a wonder we can hear Zac at all, and as it reaches its climax, Zac dives headfirst into the crowd, thrusting his microphone ahead to encourage yet more people to join what has become nothing less than a communal singalong. It's a beautiful moment, and one of many more to come.

For more pictures of Special Needs from tonight's gig, click here

Fall in love with Special Needs here, or visit their official website

Kill City can be found at the Poptones site

While The Faculty's official site is www.thefaculty.info

New Rosy Jewels are at www.thenewrosyjewels.co.uk