Gig review: Iglu & Hartly

Published on Thursday 4 February 2010 18:03

IGLU & HARTLY * KING TUT'S, GLASGOW

QUITE why anybody thought it was a good idea to exhume the corpse of risible early Noughties rappers Crazy Town, dress it in a loose vest and stonewashed denim and teach it how to play a synthesiser, we'll never know, but lunk-headed LA mob Iglu & Hartly are just such a funky abomination.

Sun-kissed party boys to the max, there was no doubting their energy levels at this show, part of King Tut's 20th birthday celebrations. Their pogoing, frat-house rap-rock shtick was even quite amusing for about the first song or two, until it transpired it wasn't supposed to be a joke.

Sweaty, nasally voiced dual frontmen Jarvis Anderson – a kind of goofy cross between Anthony Keidis and Zack out of Saved By The Bell – and the gormless-looking Sam Martin are to hip-hop what Busted were to punk. Solitary hit In This City admittedly has a lingering chorus hook, but the rest of Iglu & Hartly's stuff couldn't slide down the bin-chute of pop fast enough.

The most challenging thing about this performance was trying to decide which element was the most rubbish – Anderson's repeated insistence that everyone put their "f***ing hands in the air", he and Martin's lame, single-digit synth-prodding, or the bit right before the start when a roadie loudly impelled the young crowd to coax their heroes out, like the clown at a kids' party, by all screeching the band's name.