The Peacocks / The Dead Reckoning / The X Ray Cats

Open the door to the pub opposite Rios in the Grand Arcade and you are met with a darkly vanished bar with comfy seats and fake palm trees. Tonight these seats are taken by multiple slick quiffs and bandana headbands. The rockabilly legion of Leeds have turned out to welcome back The Peacocks for their second show in the city (the first being over the way in Rios supporting Voodoo Glow Skulls). Up first though is a taste of Leeds own Rockabilly Skiffle with X Ray Cats.



This trio really have the married pairing of 50's rock and country sound down to a t, look the part and are the perfect way to warm this evening up (along with the cheap whiskey 'Whiskey Wednesday!'). Covering a couple of songs, one by Bo Diddly and Ted Nugent's 'Cat Scratch Fever', their songs 'Anna Lucia' and 'Cigarettes' are what you would expect from a tight rockabilly band, short sharp notes and a truly wonderful bass line from a very talented double bass player Adam Richards.



Up next are The Dead Reckoning, less rockabilly than the other bands of the night, more punk having a fight with rock and roll, very tight and professional. Featuring members of Buzzkill and The Magnificent, the Leeds band has a brass / woodwind section of a trumpet and saxophone that really pad out the other three members basic band set up of guitar, bass and drums. Matt Colmer's punchy vocals are like a hit from ten tonne truck filled with Tuk shoes, plus his quips in between songs keep the crowd amused. Drummer Dave wins a gold star for effort, the guy has so much stamina for playing with s much gusto.

My pick of the best songs are the sharp 'Head's Up', 'Pop', the heavier 'Gandhi' and their last song 'The Chase', a jolly paced, brass lead track. This is a band I will be seeing again, and they provide plenty of chances to catch them, playing somewhere in Leeds nearly every month or so.

Finally The Peacocks are here to take us back to Rockabillyland. The place is a lot busier down the front now, and the three guys from Switzerland look like the feel right at home. Dressed all in black, again they have a really talented double bass player, Simon Langhard who at times lifts the mighty stringed beast above his head and holds it there. They are quite an animated band with highly accentuated movements, especially from drummer Jürg Luder, making them a feast for the eyes. As for frontman Hasu Langhart, he could be the pin up for many a rockafrilly girl…



Their English is better than a lot of local bands I see play in Leeds and beyond, and the wise cracks and jokes between songs really hit the mark. Their fast paced punk-sized songs are thrown at you like a ball in a game of stinger, giving a high paced punkabilly show well worth having another whiskey (or three) to, though as I write this up in the early morning maybe the last two whiskeys were not a good idea…

Starting with 'All Seen Better Days' from their fourth album 'It's Time For', they take us through new and old songs like the catchy 'Not Your Man' and 'Lean On Me' from album 'After All' and the shout-a-long punk of 'Slow Down'. Most song content skims around relationship observations, with lyrics like "Love song baby, goes out to you, It'll be good", "I'm only crying" and of course 'Cos I fucked it up".

This band are the tightest psychobilly band I have seen yet, merging the 50's rock and roll with punk vocals and attitude, a little like Australians The Living End have done. Highly recommended.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.