30/5/2010 Cavilry, Ferocity Lights & Dirty Fingernails @ the Hope & Anchor

Subject	Cavilry, Ferocity Lights & Dirty Fingernails @ the Hope & Anchor
PostedDate	5/30/2010
	An interesting and varied night at the Hope & Anchor. Last time I saw Dirty Fingernails they were an electronic brother/sister duo. There have been big changes since then, and this now a full guitar band. Since keyboard player Paivi (also formerly in Honeykill) left to move to Brighton the band's whole style of music has changed completely- what was once a pop duo is now a rock 'n' roll band, and rather a good one too. Don't be fooled by the neat uniforms or poppy songs on MySpace - this band rocks! Next is a band who are new to me. I'm surprised I haven't heard of Ferocity Lights before as they seem to be playing at the East Barnet Festival next month so there would appear to be a local connection. In spite of this they have quite an American alt/grunge/new wave feel to their music - think Breeders/Pixies/Husker Du and you won't be a million miles away. They have a very good drummer - which can make all the difference to how a band sound live. Ferocity Lights are certainly worth checking out again and I'm looking forward to seeing them on my home turf soon. Things all go a bit 'metal' next with New York band The Audio Cartel. Featuring sons of Ian Hunter and Michael Schenker they are excellent musicians, but didn't really do anything to grab my attention with either the quality of their songs or their stage presence. Cavilry are headlining tonight and do a good job of getting the place going with their heavy mixture of Wildhearts/Therapy? style riffs and catchy tunes. New song 'Miss Connection' is particularly good and has a very strong early Manics feel - from the days when they were still Generation Terrorists. With tunes as good as this they could really get noticed. This band play with spirit and passion - hopefully their hard work will soon start to pay off. For only £6 on the door, and decent real ale at the upstairs (ground level) bar this is a great value for money night out! Â It's a nice little venue, apart from the very shoddy state of the toilets downstairs.