Lucky Soul – Fopp Tottenham Court Road, 19th April 2007

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Petite, sassy, and gorgeous, with a breathy voice to melt your heart. But enough about me, let’s talk about Lucky Soul. Having nowhere near the musical savvy of the two Rich’s, the splash of glowing reviews for Lucky Soul’s clutch of earlier singles and recently released album The Great Unwanted had somehow passed me by. But, sticking to my doctrine of musical karma (whereby I eventually stumble across all things good) they had somehow appeared on my radar. I had an order in the post and was already listening to the album streaming from their website when a free evening set at Fopp records beckoned. As an aside, I came along expecting amps squeezed between CD racks, but this flagship Fopp has a downstairs club area set up (with beer and everything!), so it is well worth keeping an eye out for future events.

The self proclaimed “most exciting thing to come out of Greenwich since time itself” (see what they did there?) embrace soulful pop unashamedly and rush to shout “good time” from the rooftops – a one stop cure for all morose indie hipsters. The obvious and most welcome influences of Sandie, Dusty, and all things Sixties, female, and plaintive were delivered with presence and verve by the lovely Ali Howard. A more recent point of reference might be St Etienne. I’ve always been a sucker for some mean tambourine, and her dreamy yet powerful vocals did not miss the backing layers found on the album. Despite all the attention she will get from eye and ear, the guiding light behind the operation is writer and guitarist Andrew Laidlaw. He has an gift for a catchy hook and the album is chock full of well crafted tunes – rare indeed now when most albums may hit great heights but are then padded out with tepid filler. The backing combo he leads were suit-ably kitted out and provided the perfect pop of the Monkees with a dash of early Faces mod edge. But don’t let my personal soft spot for those acts and times give you the idea that this is just some kind of tribute band – they’re too talented for that.

They deserved a much better response from a crowd that seemed too cool to dance, but did show enough enthusiasm to be rewarded with unplanned songs and a short encore – tipping a hat to their influences with a storming version of Heatwave. My only gripe with the whole event is my usual one (will anyone ever take note?). The sound was, especially initially, too loud for the small venue. Why spoil the bands greatest asset by having the vocals washed out in a muddy roar at the high points?

They deserve success with The Great Unwanted. It may not be an album to trouble the rock pantheon, but it hits the spot right now and could well be the soundtrack to my long hot summer of 2007. Quite where they progress I’m not sure. Perennial niche act possibly, but there is real talent here. These songs are just too good.

Ladies – slap on your mascara, pull on your best dress and get dancing. Gents – she’s already dancing, so get asking.

Links
Lucky Soul [official site] [myspace]