Crocodiles, Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh

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.