Gig review: Pajama Club

THE latest band moniker adopted by New Zealand's Neil Finn (Split Enz/Crowded House), together with its back-story (late-night jams at home with wife Sharon on bass, after their sons flew the nest) give an impression of mellow cosiness decidedly at odds with Pajama Club's actual sound.

Launched earlier this year with the addition of songwriter/keyboardist Sean Donnelly and drummer Alana Skyring, they mostly peddle rocked-up concoctions of late 1970s and 1980s-style ingredients, complete with lashings of vintage synth - Finn playing a miniature model one-handed, along with guitar - and robotic repetition.

Even Suffer Never, an earlier composition from occasional side-project The Finn Brothers - one of the set's minimal concessions to the fact that the entire audience were presumably motivated mainly by previous loyalties - segued into a largely faithful cover of Tubeway Army's 1979 hit Are 'Friends' Electric?.

Unfortunately, the latter's instantly recognisable qualities somewhat glaringly highlighted the dearth of future classics among Pajama Club's own material, whose debt to the likes of The Human League, Tears For Fears, The Cult, and occasionally further back to glam rock and disco, ill-concealed its often plodding, turgid monotony and scant melodic appeal. Small wonder that the crowd's initially fulsome welcome soon dwindled to polite applause.

On paper, support act Nile Marr was an extra point of interest, being the 19-year-old son of former Smiths guitar legend Johnny Marr, but in the event his diffident, brooding songs were largely outshone by his suitably ridiculous gold sequinned jacket. Still, at least he's got youth on his side.