Life is a series of decisions. For instance, this evening we could have attended the recording of a programme for Channel 4, featuring the Stereophonics, Lethal Bizzle, Gallows, and, last but by no means least, Enrique Inglesias. However, after the ’phonics had pulled out (allegedly due to an incident in the ladies toilets of a London nightclub), Gallows and Bizzle had been dismissed as “a racket”, and Enrique had just been, well, dismissed, we decided to switch our attention to the Junction instead.

First up, Kid Harpoon’s angsty folk-cum-indie didn’t especially impress, sounding (and looking) like a cross between the lead singer of the Kooks and the dirty old man from Steptoe and Son. His set veered from the ridiculous to the sublime, the sublime being his inspired cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘First We Take Manhattan’, the ridiculous being the rest of it.

The hotly-tipped Wombats were up next, and it was clear from the youthful audience’s response that it was them that they were here for. With their fairy-tale voice-over opening, and their pleasant, if not exactly devastating, anthems such as Kill the Director and Let’s Dance to Joy Division, they managed to secure themselves a place alongside bands like The Maccabees and The Cribs as keepers of the quite-good-tunes-really flame. They’re back again on September 29 – it might well be worth going, especially if cheeky Scouse banter floats your particular pop punt.

After The Wombats’ noisy ascendancy, The Holloways could only be anti-climactic. A lengthy wait did nothing to improve our mood (like, who are you? Axel Rose? Bob Dylan? Jesus?), and even the Knight Rider theme tune (a surprising, if entertaining interlude) couldn’t hide the fact that this would be a band writing cheques that their tunes couldn’t cash. Despite the live setting beefing up their rather light-weight album, the songs failed to come across as anything other than derivative Libertines/Monkeys gurning, and the fickle audience knew it. Whether their response inspired lead singer Alfie Jackson’s phoned-in performance, or the other way around, the gig failed to properly take off, the crowd seemingly just waiting for big hit Generator before they could leave. They played it. We left. Faced with yet another decision, we decided that The Wombats had severely upstaged the Holloways, and then decided to leave it at that.

Two Stars

Josh Farrington