JJ72

Whether the sun has already set on JJ72’s commercial career is still in the balance, but despite seemingly being destined for cries of JJ seventy-who?, the return of the Irish indie-pixies is made all the more strange as they look approximately eight months younger than when they started out in 2000. However, their sound has definitely come of age and although vocalist Mark Greaney still looks suspiciously like H from Steps, (you never see them in the same room, do you?), his Brian Molko-sucking-on-helium vocals seems less screeching, and more angelic these days.

If tonight proves anything, it’s that the band appeared on the scene too early, as their poetic indulgences were well ahead of Pete Doherty’s odes to Arcadia, the intelligent lyrics easily pre-date Bloc Party and the camp operatics even managed to pip Muse to the post. ‘Snow’ still petulantly recreates teenage angst perfectly, while ‘October Swimmer’ now feels like it is waving rather than drowning in its excessive dramatics.

A flurry of news songs, including new single ‘She’s Gone’, are equal parts tender lullabies and screaming nightmares, which highlight that the band is basically a vessel for Greaney’s amazing vocal range. As fucking annoying to some as he is enchanting to others, there is no doubting that he is a star of sorts. Whether the band can continue to shine or in fact exploded creatively a long ago remains to be seen, but tonight at least shows that a fire is still burning.