LIVE REVIEW: HATCHAM SOCIALCARGO, APRIL 2012

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by Keira Cullinane

As Hatcham Social take the stage at an almost capacity filled Cargo, the bands appeal is evident. Showing a surprising, yet welcome lack of pretense and self-importance for an outfit playing to an anticipative mass of this volume, the groups laid back approach to performing gives them an endearing quality, conveying the impression that you are visiting old friends as opposed to seeing a popular band. The groups sound is reminiscent of such 80’s pop acts as orange juice and the pastels, at times evoking the broken melodies of early suede (the guitar player even resembling Bernard Butler), the group hurl track after track of delicious hooks and captivating choruses like pop hand grenades, coercing the audience to explode into dance.

Tonight’s set incorporates new and old material, each receiving welcome greetings from different parts of the crowd. It is new single however; I look like a god when you dance with me, which really gets the multitudes bouncing. Although the crowd and the bands energy start to wane about two thirds in, the group play a boisterous finale, inviting some of the more avid fans onto the stage to dance, with singer Toby Kidd even allowing some of them to sing.

Hatcham Social are an anomaly in that each song is just as catchy and danceable as the last, never letting up on the hooks or the fun. Any of the bands tracks performed tonight could be strong enough to stand alone as a hit single and judging by a group of over enthusiastic (slightly inebriated) dancers who embrace each other and whole-heartedly sing along smiling to every song, some of them already are. This is what Hatcham social are perfect for, losing your inhibitions and kicking up one’s heels with friends. If you are looking for profound, introspective lyrics or music to mull over, this may not be for you. Otherwise Hatcham Social offer the perfect pop antidote to any droll London night.

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Photo by Keira Cullinane

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