CityLife

Little Boots + VV Brown + Daggers + Antigone

BLACKPOOL POPSTRESS: Little Boots

IN the eight years since it crashed the web party like the best bits of Smash Hits drunk on fizzy plonk, there have been few voices more vocal in the battle to provide a Fair Deal for Pop than Popjustice.

Tonight sees the Chelsea-based website decamp north for a stab at bringing justice to In The City.

And with this being the only pop showcase among the 2,473 indie events taking place, it seems their iron fist is needed now more than ever.

First up is Dolly Rockers. Watching the former X Factor hopefuls is like boxing with kittens: far more fun than it should be.

Intrigue turns to delight as the girls, clad in ripped tights and wearing enough eyeliner to ring the peepers of an entire nation’s lippy teens, casually impart a series of Xenomania-style pop bangers, with surprisingly smart lyrics to match the audio savvy.

Next up is Antigone, named after the Greek goddess of east London jokes gone horribly wrong. The duo’s set comprises funky house, UK Garage (?!) and an inexplicable section with a notably aroused blow-up doll.

Sadly for Antigone the crowd’s interest level falls way below excitement as a painfully contrived reference to the host city sinks like a Razorlight B-side among the few remaining listeners.

Far better is VV Brown. Angular of hair and generous of smile, the 24- year-old bounds onstage in a polka-dotted explosion of cartoon retro.

She tears through a selection of spooky doo-wop pop (and one regrettable reggae cover) but could probably have got away with playing single ‘Crying Blood’, which receives a rapturous response, six times.

If you’re going to convince people of your monumental pop brilliance, opening with a tune that nicks the melody from Anita Ward’s 1979 doorbell classic ‘Ring My Bell’ is probably a good idea. Little Boots knows this: hence ‘Magical’, just one of many laser-guided disco bombs she drops tonight.

Elsewhere, former single ‘Meddle’ jerks with sore-headed intensity, while Italo epic ‘Stuck On Repeat’ incites spontaneous acts of worship with its cathedral-sized casting of Donna Summer as Kylie’s little sister.

It’s obvious to those present that 2009 will be a big year for Little Boots.

Last to take the stage are Daggers, who, in a rollercoaster year, have supported Gary Numan, worked with Richard X and had songs written for them by Spice Girls producer Biff Stannard.

Tonight sees them channel their crystalline distillation of all that is good about music down rockier routes: new songs crunch with a chilling urgency as gruelling machine pop fights for air space with the band’s weapons-grade melodies.

By the time they finish with ‘Money’ – one of 2007’s best singles – dazed onlookers have to be led away for air. As they stumble outside the message is clear: justice has been served.
 

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