Air Guitars At The Ready Part Four: Three More New London Acts

Chris Lockie
By Chris Lockie Last edited 127 months ago
Air Guitars At The Ready Part Four: Three More New London Acts

The Deets

Three more London bands you'd do well to catch, before all you can see of them is specks on an arena stage far, far away.

The Deets

Who?
Jono Linden, Ian Cummins, Andy Fox and Mike Smith.

Where?
Bromley, with a slight hint of Upminster.

What?
Raucous indie rock with a cheeky grin and a knife hidden in its boot. It would be just and fair to say that if you are a fan of The Rakes, The Rifles or Arctic Monkeys you're likely to be right at home with The Deets (slang for 'details' for the uninitiated, or old). There's a harder edge to the band's sound though, more reminiscent of much-missed London outfit Dogs.

Why?
Debut single Charlie is out this week and the band have done a bloody good job of getting the word out – it's already soundtracked a goals montage on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday, quite a coup for a new young band. They regularly gig around town and can be seen at Bar Music Hall in Shoreditch on 8 August, then at The Finsbury at Manor House and Arch 365 in Clapham in the coming weeks. And then they hit Europe, so catch them before they leave us all behind. Though if anyone can explain what the hell the video is about, do let us know.

Night Engine

Who?
Phil, Dom, Ed and Lee.

Where?
London! Note to band: ensure press chief replies to requests for... press.

What?
A bit of post-punk here, a bit of new wave there, top it off with some art-pop and you have an awful description of the sound of Night Engine for which we can only apologise. Time to recover some credibility... they sound somewhat like a band in the mid/late-90s called Laptop who put out a terrific single called Nothing To Declare. A little more up to date, the oft-name dropped American band Merchandise are currently peddling similar wares. Fans of Bowie, one suspects.

Why?
Already picking up attention from those in the know at 6 Music and XFM, Night Engine's most recent single Seventeen sold out on vinyl in a matter of days, though it's still available for download at the usual places. A self-professed love of London on the band's Twitter feed should really be enough to seal the deal, but should you require further persuasion the band are about to take up residency at the St Moritz Club in Soho for a trio of Wednesday gigs.

River Fury

Who?
Pat Nutton, Dan Howe, Stefano Brachi and Ted Miller.

Where?
A combination of Kilburn, Southwark and Bermondsey. Connect those dots on a map and we're sure you get a thumbs up.

What?
Uplifting indie pop, in turns summery and mysterious. The splendid sound of a band forging their own sound and forcing the humble critic to scrabble about uselessly for reference points. The Strokes are a clear influence, though River Fury have wisely chosen not to emulate that band's introspective narcissism. A bit of early Kaiser Chiefs can also be detected (long before they became rubbish).

Why?
Another band putting out their first proper release – single 21st Century Man is available now. The band are currently busy in the studio reworking some of their older songs, though by the sounds of the excellent Why on their Soundcloud page they won't need to be in there long. Live dates are in the pipeline for September and we suspect the new material will be more than worth checking out.

See also:

Last Updated 01 August 2013