Hope of the States
This is the first headline tour for the three brothers that make up Radkey and tonight they hit Manchester's Night & Day Cafe, which for a Monday night has a very healthy turn out indeed. There's been a fair bit of hype about these guys so I'm keen to see if they live up to it!
They kick off at breakneck speed and you can tell from the first 30 seconds that they are a tight unit musically. It doesn't take long for the crowd to get up to speed and the longer the set goes on the louder they get.
Radkey remind me of a cross between the Misfits and the Lunachicks and it might be an obvious comparison but it's one that can't be ignored due to the striking similarity between Dee's voice and that of Glen Danzig. This is particularly evident on Out Here in My Head and as far as the music goes in general, they do have some interesting ideas but at the same time quite a lot of it is simple three chord punk by numbers. They show promise however with songs like Cat & Mouse and a couple of new songs that got aired had very catchy choruses. They still seem a little awkward up on stage when it comes to between song banter but there's no doubting their energy and craft when the songs kick in.
There is a moment of sheer spontaneous genius from the crowd at the end of the set when bassist Isaiah launches himself into the crowd, who proceed to carry him off, all the way to the other end of the venue and out of the front door! He is quickly followed by the other two and it's certainly a memorable end to the set!
Overall I enjoyed it, Radkey play tuneful, fast paced punk rock and deliver it with a certain swagger. It's not particularly original or ground breaking but that doesn't mean it's bad! Are they the most exciting band I'll see this year? Probably not but it's a good start and the future is bright. Well worth checking out.