Shot at Brixton Academy at the end of Moloko's 2003 tour, this is a limp wander through the band's hits which even Roisin Murphy can't lift. There's none of the inter-band tension that a year on the road might have generated, and they even manage to mangle "Sing It Back". For devotees only.
Sadly not long-lost footage from the '60s but film from a brace of reunion gigs in the mid-'90s by the rediscovered pop-art cult heroes. There's lots of playing the guitar with a violin bow (something the band's Eddie Phillips invented way before Jimmy Page). But the transformation from razor-sharp teenage mods to middle-aged beer bellies is cruel on the eye.
Yes, on tuesday, June 13, 1978, voodoo rockabilly avatars The Cramps (in their greatest line-up, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy backed by Nick Knox and Byron Gregory) rolled into the recreation room of California's Napa State Mental Hospital, to play for the residents. Don't ask how this was ever allowed.
While Matchbox 20 have been a byword for AOR, director Hamish Hamilton's concert film has a sense of scale and occasion that makes Rob Thomas and friends look like a group with something almost thrilling to say. Caught in Atlanta during their 2003 tour, the band build a head of steam banging through hits like "Push", "3 AM" and "Bent".
The timing of this show is somewhat odd, coming as it does nearly a month before the release of Malin's second album, The Heat. The audience doesn't know the new songs and Jesse chides them for their reserve when he plays the unfamiliar material. He admits it's his own fault, though. The album was meant to be out now, but was delayed when he added two extra tracks.
American Music Club/Richmond Fontaine
QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL LONDON
Sunday May 23, 2004
Richmond Fontaine take to the stage looking like they've walked out of Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces.
