The Holloways, Waterfront

It was a night of chipped teeth and grabbed balls at the Waterfront as a surprisingly sparse crowd greeted the Holloways brand of dancey indie guitar pop. The support came from the impressive and confident local band The Interpreters and the passionate acoustic-punk of ex-Million Dead frontman Frank Turner and the crowd warmed to each as their respective sets went on.

The second Holloways album is due for release this year, and they showcased some of this new material along with old favourites such as ‘Generator’ ‘Dancefloor’ and ‘Fuck Ups’. The riff-strewn ‘Generator’, the biggest mainstream hit for the band, was greeted with a huge cheer and even requested again as an encore. Guitarist and vocalist Rob Skipper prances the stage with a violin on ‘Two Left Feet’, not many indie bands can say they can pull that off.

The new songs seem to be along the very same lines as ‘So This Is Great Britain’, witty, observational, tongue-in-cheek lyrics to a soundtrack of dancey, catchy upbeat guitars but most of all its still all fun. This fun is captured in the live shows, laughing between songs, even mid-songs as they parade about the stage and when lead singer Alfie Jackson chips a tooth when singing into the same mic as Skipper, its all laughed off, he even gets his revenge by grabbing Skipper’s balls trying to get him out of the crowd and they even chase each other off stage with a full bottle of beer when they finish.

But this fun can only last so long, while these two albums are clever and catchy indie, you have to question the longevity of the band, something must have to change to keep it interesting, the lack of numbers could be a sign of things to come for The Holloways.