Brassy and Sgt.Rock @ the Point, 10/03/00

Maybe you should blame Jacques Lu Cont (of LRD) for all this 80s synthesizer revival. At first Sgt. Rock seemed to be just another band (or bloke in fact), following this theme. There he was standing behind his keyboard inducing sounds and cheesy rhythms. Then it suddenly changed. On stage appeared a bloke in a green mask (almost making you feel like you have accidentally turned up at a Slipkot gig). He stared menacingly into the crowd, and the beat went on. He has the award for singing the most profound lyrics of the night 'Fucking Hell'. Just when you thought it couldn't get any stranger, another bloke, wearing a smiley face (like that out of those Liquorish Allsorts ads, but yellow) joined him on stage. Although everyone was quite bemused about it, there was just a vague sign of the dancing that would follow.

Muffin Spencer is a brilliant front person, she stands there on the stage, striking all the rock star poses. But the highlight of the Brassy set is the fact it got everyone at the front dancing. Of course it helped that they have the participation songs, ie getting the crowd to yell BRASSY at the appropriate moment, but most of all, anyone not finding that they were tapping their feet must be mad. The problem with Brassy is that every song sounded the same. But this is not of a hindrance to the band, because it is that bassline that gets everyone moving. But only a very good band, would get such a reaction from an Oxford audience.