Touring in support of current album Boys Crocodiles brought their twin Fender guitar assault to the welcoming confines of Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s on Monday night, inspiring an old man to dance with a mic stand & invoking the name of one of the city’s punk legends in the process.

It’s doubtful that the venue’s compact stage has been the site of any more stylish guitar showmanship than that performed by Charles Rowell whilst Brandon Welchez and the rhythm section kept the pace to a frenetic level throughout. ‘Crybaby Demon’ and the other selections from Boys fitted seamlessly into the set amidst works from their previous four albums, allowing for the show to race along with only the odd break for tuning up.

Continuing a tradition which this writer first witnessed Mudhoney indulging in many years ago, The Exploited were mentioned and a cover or covers of theirs proposed as the next song up a couple of times but merely as a tease. The Elton Motello number ‘Jet Boy, Jet Girl’ did though get a rousing rendition as the encore, during which the bulk of Hatcham Social also made it onto the stage at the expense of a mic stand nearly clobbering the front row of the crowd.

Crocodiles delivered everything expected of them & looked thoroughly at home in the intimate space provided by the club. Hopefully you’ll experience them in a similar sized room.

Apologies to Vladimir who we were too late to see, arriving as we did just in time to see Hatcham Social take to the stage. A band previously known in name only, discovering via the club’s Twitter that they were on the bill was a decided bonus earlier in the evening and enlightenment as to what they’re all about keenly awaited. Visually two versions of Wolfy Smith and one of the Inspiral Carpets behind the drums was an odd sight to first be presented with but this soon became purely about the music.

Vocally they brought Orange Juice to mind early on and from the second song onwards the power of a good tune to lighten your mood was evident. Either association with Crocodiles or just the fun of being on stage found the band powering through songs which on record turn out to be a lot more traditionally indie than the young Stranglers-like versions experienced here. They had a ball (to the extent of forgetting they were in Edinburgh & not Glasgow) and it was a pleasure to finally manage to attach a sound to their name.

Album number five from the core duo of Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell and things have taken on a slightly more psychedelic edge than before. Plus thankfully their dubious cover of 'U Sexy Thing' isn't included in the running order, however timely their rendition of it may now seem.

Opening with the Moon Duoesque 'Crybaby Demon' the pair get things off to a flying start as it zips along at a good lick that sets the tone for all that is to follow. 'Foolin' Around' is the first song to display that aforementioned psych tinge as it draws woozily to a close. straight up after that though we're into Black Lips territory with the sneering 'Do The Void'. Variety is the name of the game here as the boys communicate their sense of fun to whomever's tuned in at the right moment.

Orchestrated psych is the style utilised next on 'The Boy Is A Tramp' and about this point you begin to wonder just how many genres they're planning to master on Boys. Whilst the album's pace slows down a notch or two around the mid-point ('Blue' being a long drawn-out track reminiscent of movie scenes where the drunken central character's probably going to wind up minus his wallet come the morning) by the time you get through to 'Kool TV' the party atmosphere once again reasserts itself.

Boys then doesn't tinker with the band's formula to any great degree and there's plenty of evidence to show that there's no need for any kind of overhaul in the near future. A solidly enjoyable album from start to finish right from the off but one which also manages to comfortably grow on you with repeated plays. 

Boys is available from amazon & iTunes.