Jet Heeled Striker

Venue: Talking Heads, Southampton
Date: Sunday 17th August
Headlining: Voodoo Glow Skulls
Support: Jet Heeled Striker

I was asked after the gig what I though of Jet Heeled Striker. Objectively. This is hard for me to do, given that I have known the lead singer since we were fifteen. He means a lot to me, and my gut reaction is to gush over everything they said and did because I want him to be happy and to succeed.
So here is my attempt at an objective review:
Jet Heeled Striker are a five piece, twenty something (I'm guessing) rock band. Two guitarists, one bass guitar, one vocalist and a drummer. They started playing, I started smiling. I was excited as they launched into their first song; it was energetic and catchy. It had a depth that my musically educated friend tells me comes from having good musical organisation - or some such term that I didn't really understand. What I did understand was that I wanted them to keep playing! I've heard a whole heap of twenty somethings playing really mediocre heavier rock music that all sounds very much the same through their desperation to sound like themselves and nobody else. The result being every song merging into another and me getting hideously drunk on cider and black to cope with it! Here though I found myself sticking to the diet coke (nothing to do with me driving obviously - it's metaphorical!). Each song sounded individual, whilst at the same time sounding like Jet Heeled Striker.
Personally I really can't bear it when people talk for hours between each song - I've paid money to hear them play, not to listen to their poor attempt at stand up comedy. However, it also really bugs me if they don't say anything at all. On introducing Generation X, Adam said "this song's called Generation X, I read it in a book". This made me laugh. Maybe it's only something me and my friends would laugh at, given that I think the same copy of Generation X got passed around us all in our idealistic teenage years! They stuck to introducing the music and letting it talk for itself rather than feeling the need to talk themselves up.
They were together and cohesive way past expectations given that it was only their second gig. The last song left me wishing I could buy a CD on the merchandise table so I could put it on repeat play. Friendship aside, they were one of the best new live acts I've seen in a long time. I think there is quite a reasonable danger that I will become something of a groupie pretty soon!