I went on the Camden Crawl last night. There were 12 venues participating with over 50 bands playing. The origins of the crawl date back to the late 1980's and was revived last year with a pretty strong line-up. Sadly last nights line-up didn't quite match this but there were some treats along the way. We made our way to several venues (in brackets) and here follows a summary.

First off we caught the New Rhodes (Colour) who failed to impress, sounding too much like a third rate Strokes for my liking. Next up, in another venue, we caught The Holloways (NW1) who are another one of these raggle taggle bands that seem to be the rage these days alongside the likes of The Ludes and the incredibly over-hyped and over-rated Larrikin Love. Four songs was enough for me to confirm that I wasn't missing anything. We couldn't get into The Dublin Castle to see The Delilahs so I have to wait to another time until I can see this Swiss three piece.

The first treat was the Fields (Lock 17) who played a mix of indie & folk with some electronica thrown in. They only have one self released 7" to their name. Sadly they didn't introduce any of their songs, or if they did it was barely a whisper, but I enjoyed the three or four songs I caught of their set.

We stayed in the venue to catch the very young and very entertaining The Maccabees. Mind you their fans were even younger and joined the band on stage more than once. The band, who hail from South London (or is it Brighton?) have released a single about their nearby leisure centre titled Latchmere. They have a very North East England sound and are obviously influenced by the likes of The Futureheads and Maximo Park. I also liked the singers Ian Curtis style moves as well.

Next we headed off to see The Cazals (Barfly), complete with backing from XFM's John Kennedy. Incredibly dull and unispiring with an equally irritating front man who must have been gutted when C&A folded. This meant an early exit from the venue, none more so when they started to cover Spandau Ballet's Cut A Long Story Short. We certainly did. We set off for the longest walk of the night to catch The Slits (Oh Bar). And after a 20 minute wait we got in although sadly we had to listen to the Paddingtons playing whilst we were outside.

What can I say about the Slits? Formed in 1977 with the 14 year old Ari Up on vocals they made the legendary punkish album Cut and recorded two stunning Peel Sessions before heading off to reggae territory. They have now reformed with I'm not to sure how many original members (2 or 3?) and are now joined by (possibly) Ari Up's daughter, who is erm, absolutely stunning and also Paul Cook's (Sex Pistols) daughter on joint vocals duties. The band didn't play too many songs as they rarely rehearse due to all living in different countries these days (Jamaica, Russia, Ireland, Germany, Spain and Brazil) which meant not too much of the punk and a healthy dose of Reggae instead. Ari Up was off her head on the highs of playing again getting the audience to make bird noises alongside her constant native American yells. She possess incredible charisma alonside a full tank of humour! And as for her watering her "poom-poom" and changing her skirt, the young guitarists face said it all.

Shame to say that as soon as the first reggae bar kicked in, younger members of the audience who were in the venue for the Paddingtons, began to leave and missed a treat. I ask you! They played New Town for starters and one of the new songs Grown Ups with it's fusion of punk & reggae was the best song I heard all night. Twice! And there is a new EP in the offering.

Was the crawl worth it? Not with such a weak line-up and some awful scheduling of bands. Some of the venues were pretty small and far to rammed for my liking (old git alert). However discovering the Fields was a big plus and I have said enough about The Slits. I might struggle to go again next year though. 6/10

Fields - Song For The Fields
The Maccabees - Lego
The Holloways - Great Britain
The Cazals - Poor Innocent Boys
The Slits on Women Of Punk
The Slits Typical Girls Unofficial Site
The Slits on Punk 77
Ari Up Official Site


Tags: Music Camden Crawl Punk Reggae The Slits Ari Up