This week’s Band of the Day features focus on five acts appearing at Southsea Festival this weekend. This is the final one of the five.
With less than eighteen hours left until the doors of Albert Road’s many music venues are thrust open to Southsea Festival attendees, there’s one final chance to take stock of the superb lineup the Portsmouth one-dayer boasts. From beginning to end there are no weak spots to speak of, and with each new band investigated the bill looks a little bit brighter. The three and a half thousand festival-goers descending on Southsea’s most important street all have a packed day of music ahead of them, and while each venue has a killer selection of bands to shout about, Little Johnny Russell’s may have stolen the show before its started. Take an in-form Pixel Fix, consistently strong Life and perhaps the most intimate Eliza and the Bear show you’ll ever have a chance to see, and LJR are onto a winner despite hefty competition throughout the day. Another band looking to make the Little Johnny Russell’s bill a festival highlight once more are Americana-infatuated Londoners Saint Agnes, who seem right at home amidst the frenzy.
As far as first impressions go, ‘Old Bone Rattle’ is a powerful introduction to the duo’s capabilities. Pounding drums and a guitar line that places your minds eye at the centre of a bar somewhere within the Nevada desert. It’s transportative to say the least, but there’s a distinct shift in atmosphere as the track approaches the three minute mark. The pace slows, the sound of an organ creeps in and slowly takes over, before the guitar returns with a fervor to set up a great instrumental showdown to close the single out. Not exactly Wild West, but certainly an engrossing climax to a track that will no doubt create a fine festival moment as it echoes out into Albert Road tomorrow afternoon.
In covering the Doors’ 1970 single ‘Roadhouse Blues’, Saint Agnes show that they’re not afraid to turn their talents to the reimagination of existing tracks. The duo make full use of the opportunity to bust out a bit of harmonica, but other than that the track is fairly distant from its original incarnation. Slowed down in order to focus in once more on the dusty, Americana vibe, the pair do a fine job of mixing things up while still doing justice to the iconic Morrison-Krieger combo. Returning to their own tracks, however, the two-piece deliver ‘A Beautiful Day for Murder’. “Beautiful” being the operative word here as its a fitting descriptor for the track as a whole. Saint Agnes’ grand vision of “Ennio Morricone rock ‘n’ roll” is coming together more and more with each new release, and coupling ‘A Beautiful Day for Murder’ with B-side ‘Where the Lightning Strikes’ sets the single up as one of the year’s brightest hidden gems.
The going is good right now for Saint Agnes and their powerfully immersive arsenal of songs, and when their own imported slice of Americana takes hold of Southsea Festival tomorrow it’s sure to be a sight to see. Nestled right in between Kassassin Street’s King’s Theatre slot and JOHN’s Edge of the Wedge invasion, there’s just enough time to pay an early visit to Little Johnny Russell’s and soak up another fantastic Southsea Fest discovery. See you in nineteen hours.
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