Dustball

Sorry, what? Was there a festival on this weekend?

Down at the Windmill for what seems like the umpteenth billionth time this month and your humble correspondent was **more excited than a paedophile on a day-trip to Mothercare**, I can tell you.

Biffy Clyro. Lapsus Linguae. Part Chimp. Aereogramme. Mclusky. Dustball. All these bands have something in common and that is they're all some of the greatest live bands this country has to offer.

You heard.

Dustball. Those barely-started-shaving punkpopper from Oxford from years back who dun all them Peel sessions and singles on Damaged Goods and so on and so forth. Dustball. A band you'd written off, presumed dead. Dustball. they went to uni then they got back together with a slightly different lineup and they refused to change their name to suit the new songs. Dustball then. A band who are on fucking fire at the moment as far as 'performance' is concerned, who will strut their stuff with some sharp, snappy songs like 'Name & Number' and 'Sounds All Wrong' and who are prone to drifting off into the land of the Sensitive Indie Boy. Dustball. A band recently asked if they wanted to be Kelly Osbourne's backing band for some TV work. Say what?!

You might pick up a CD or get an mp3 off their site and think "what the fuck is this stupid bitch on about?" but then I'd have to break your legs as a result of such non-believeness. This gig was one of the busiest Sunday niters for a while (see that, dear other-venues-shooting-themselves-in-the-foot-by-not-putting-on-a-gig-this-weekend?) yet still only a privileged few in London Town still know of the brilliance and exuberance of this band, so pay heed.

Residencies are GRATE - bands get to whore themselves out more times than a Moby album and punters get to know the songs, and this was meant to be Dustball's last night of a monthly residency but, ho ho sweet irony, DiS has got them back for a gig on Sep 25th. Ho ho. So this is not the end, my friends, and if you were rolling around in shit and thunder storms in a field somewhere then you missed it and you suck.