Stamps Bar

Neil is here again to amaze, astound and amuse you.

Monday night at Stamps had all the ingredients for another top quality night.Recent weeks have seen Tom Hingley of the Inspiral Carpets and Andy White.Tom has been responsible for over 20 top 40 hits.Andy White voted Irelands Hot Press Songwriter of the year.

The question is how to top that. The answer is you have your very own Mercury Music Prize nominee Steve Roberts with his new band Captain Pop, kicking off their mini tour showcasing their new album Shut Up and Sing.

But before all that we had Lizzie Nunnery as the support act.Lizzie is also very talented,frighteningly so. An accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist, she cut her teeth at the Acoustic Engine songwriter nights. As if this was not enough she is also a talented playwright with commissions from the National Theatre and the Liverpool Everyman. Not bad for someone 24 years old.

Here tonight we were treated to a number of songs from her recently released EP Monkeys and Devils.

Opening with Moving with the Moon, a beautiful yet simple song with a soaring chorus, Lizzies voice described elsewhere as angelic, powerful and wonderful shines throughout. Following up with Monkey Song, a song that at its heart is uplifting escapism. The mellotron provided the unusual backing, and as Julian Cope once said it should be the mellifluos mellotron.

This is a theme that ran through the whole set. In describing the songs you keep thinking of beautiful, simple heavenly and ethereal.

My ramblings do not do her set or EP  justice. So I will keep it simple.

Go buy the EP and go and see her live.

And so to the main event, Captain Pop showcasing their new album Shut Up and Sing.

They describe themselves as a

…a co-operative crew of musicians and singers in love with Pop music. Pop is the only genre that matters says the Captain, to us it doesn’t just mean popular, though of course there are many popular pop songs, it means songs with a melody and a zest for life. It’s the power of pop that we look for in a pop song.

Fine sentiments indeed

Child in your Eyes opened their set and has been described as foot stomping, finger snapping, Northern Soul energy. Falling Apart followed and is as tender a song as you will ever hear.

Your Papers Please is a rant against ID cards and a clever little video is available at their myspace site.

Insanely catchy is the only way to describe Waiting for the Storm.

Shut Up and Sing they describe as toe tappers,ballads and the slightly esoteric all dressed up in a colourful Pop overcoat.

How right they are.

Yes you’ve guessed it Poptastic