30/4/2010 Girls On Top & Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons @ the Hope & Anchor

Subject	Girls On Top & Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons @ the Hope & Anchor
PostedDate	4/30/2010 2:04:00 PM
	Back Islington for the second night running, and an interesting night at the Hope & Anchor. I love it when you got to see a band and randomly end up discovering another one you like - this is one of those nights.  Myself and a few friends have gone to see Camden sleazesters Girls On Top, but it's the band on before them that makes a big impession. None of us have seen this band before but we'll definitely be going to see them again. The music is fairly typical of the punk 'n' roll and psychobilly bands you'll often find at The Gaff or 12 Bar Club and nothing that special, but they are fronted by an amazing performer! This band are Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons. Pussycat herself is an electrifying performer and has 'star' written all over her. Sort of like a punk Catwoman with amazing stage presence - you can't take your eyes off her. The band are good players, but Pussycat demmands your attention so much that you hardly notice them. She has a fantastic look, but also terrific stage presence. Sometimes you see a girl fronting a rock band (it only seems to be girls this applies to - don't ask me why) and they are so 'stage school' - all their moves are so perfectly practiced and choreographed but ultimately soul-less. There is nothing of themselves in their performance - it's just what they've been schooled to 'project'. This is different - this is genuinely raw and in your face, and so much better for it. This girl is a natural performer - not a trained one. This is rock 'n' roll.  Girls On Top are fun. They out-sleaze all those would-be G'N'R sleaze merchants on the Camden circuit, but in a completely different style. If you listen too closely to the lyrics of their songs you get the feeling that you really don't want to dig too deep into their sordid world. The music is very derivative, not to say blatent thievery of trash rock and garage classics from the 50's to 70's - well played, but maybe deliberately not too well.