We are the Mods (repeat to fade)
Before we even lay eyes upon Seaside Riot we’d have put money down on them being a mod band and surprise, surprise so they are. The mod influences permeate pretty much everything about them from the name down.
Seaside Riot are unsurprisingly a bit of a Jam clone, they have that classic mod look and sound and they’re not bad. They’re a tight enough band with some good tunes and there’s always going to be a market for this kind of material but it’s nothing to get really excited about. The slower songs are a bit dull and the incoherent mumbling between songs does them no favours. As on Sunday, crowd numbers in Dry Bar seem down on previous years for the In The City showcases but they get an average turnout and do enough in the performance to engage those that are watching. The sound is pretty good, the vocals decent and they seem to get into it more as the set progresses.
They hold the interest with the last song, which is far better and hints that they may have enough about them to go places. Overall though there’s just nothing original about them and there are a host of bands doing similar things and unless they can produce some really great tunes to make them stand out you have to wonder how far they can take it.