The Verse’s Josh Tubb lets us know what he thought about the Liverpool four-piece’s show in his Clean Cut Kid review.
A disco ball shines beams around the upstairs of the Prince Albert. It sheds light on a large backdrop with a name and logo written in red, blue and black overlapping to create a 3D glasses effect. It reads Clean Cut Kid. I skirt over the merch stand on the way to the bar to buy a drink as I wait in anticipation for the music to start.
First on the stage is the band Sad Girls Club (Brighton lo-fi rock trio). The lead singer takes off her shoes which adds even more to her slacker look. The sound is similar to Cage the Elephant in instrumentation, but the lyrics have an honest and rambling way of delivery which is very reminiscent to Courtney Barnett. A stand out song from the band is named Jasmine and sounds amazing with its liberal use of the word fuck and the complex basslines being played behind it.
Next on is Midlands duo Lusts. They drive a distortion heavy and upbeat sound rocketing around the venue , filling up the space with their presence of guitar, synths and drums . They remind me of similar duos such as Slaves and Royal Blood. The instrumentation and delivery of the band was excellent with each song flowing almost seamlessly into one another. The singer had a great vocal range which was very impressive. After their set the drummer spoke a few words to me about how he loved who the set went and the venue itself.
The room almost fills up to breaking point and the heat and excitement rises as the crowd await the main event. Clean Cut Kid quickly take to the stage and race into their first song of the night which was Runaway, which leads the boppy and energetic sound which was to follow for the rest of their set. The band sound great over the Prince Albert’s speakers, being crystal clear and at just the right volume. Their third song Stay has an incredible synergy between the bass and guitar which raises the momentum of the set up a notch or two. The room at this point is a similar temperature to a sauna, with Mike Hall exclaiming: “God, has a gig ever been hotter?” and “It’s like getting out of a warm bath!” The crowd are buzzing as the bassist bounces to every song, smiling as if he just won the lottery. The songs Evelyn and Jean in particular stand out as they both had a story behind them, before Evelyn plays Mike explains to the crowd about this love song to his wife, while she stands behind her keyboard in awe. During the song Jean the bassist attempts to get the crowd to use their phone screens as a waving light, similar to the older ways of lighters in the air. After a skillful guitar solo the band leads into their final song of the night which is Vitamin C , it is intense and energetic and has the whole crowd singing along. The song has the largest applause and leaves the crowd satisfied and so the band leaves the stage with no encore.
I highly recommend seeing Clean Cut Kid and either of the supports if the chance arises, and look forward to whatever comes next for this exciting band.
Set List:
Runaway
Make Believe
Stay
Paper Heart
We Used To Be In Love
Brother Of Mine
Felt
Evelyn
Jean
Pick Me Up
Vitamin C
