Gig review: The Rumble Strips

Published on Tuesday 29 September 2009 20:47

ABC2, GLASGOW ***

ARGUABLY, the career high of this Devon-bred indie-pop outfit came about two years ago, when their 2007 headline slot on the NME New Music Tour saw them humble the rest of the bill. Not that this group are revolutionaries by any stretch of the imagination, but they are bright-eyed and lively, and their cheerful ska deserves survival more than, for example, Pull Tiger Tail or Blood Red Shoes.

So, here we are in 2009, and they're still going – if not going strong – and thriving on the attentions of a modest audience that appreciates the music. Lead singer Charlie Waller wears a Camdenite mini-quiff, and their sound is redolent of scenester London in the summer.

Bouncy punk-pop blends with Caribbean-styled trumpet and sax, and the early singles of fellow music press causes clbres Jamie T and Jack Peate are brought to mind.

That's part of the problem, though. Where T and Peate made pleasant, similarly styled pop songs, which suggested brief success and then a slip into the musical wilderness, they've both come back with efforts that push their songwriting skills and styles further. While each of the songs played here – from older tracks Girls and Boys in Love and Oh Creole to London, Not the Only Person and Welcome to the Walk Alone – is pleasant enough in its own right, there's no evolution and no sign that any sure-fire hits have been stumbled upon.