Aidan Smith

“It’s Friday lunchtime, so you can all have a pint. Everyone knows you’re not supposed to do any work on Fridays.” So proclaims ex-deckchair attendant and Californian dreamer, Blackpool’s Jack Cooper. In the smoky environs of Manchester’s Night and Day Café, even the brightest midday sunshine can’t quite penetrate its cavernous, nocturnal feel. Hence, staging a lunchtime gig here in the name of charidee would never fall prey to the horror of becoming a Sunny-Delight induced love-in.

The first of in a series of Oxfam benefit gigs over the space of one weekend, Twisted Nerve have skimmed the cream off their vat of singer-songwriter talent for today’s gig. Cooper, fresh from his first single release as part of the Manchester label’s Jukebox 45 singles series, is relatively new to the local scene and the lanky 23 year-old looks more like a missing Stroke in his suit jacket than a Beach Boys/Big Star-obsessed solo artist. Maybe the absence of Hawaiian shirt and Brian Wilson quiff is due to the fact that after his set he has to rush back to his office job in Stockport.

As Cooper takes to the spotlighted keyboard, unaccompanied by a backing band, clouds of people gather at the seated tables and the anticipatory hush clearly sends shockwaves through the singer’s nervous system. Moving to the front with his acoustic guitar, the nakedness of Cooper’s songs – breezy and confident in their lyrical observations - sit uneasily with his hunched and self-contained stage presence. It’s not until he’s made some headway into his set that the true potential comes to light and he is able to look the crowd directly in the eye. Fortunately, songs such as ‘Jack Frost’ and ‘Echo Echo Echo’ mean it’s possible to imagine Cooper filling bigger stages and warming home stereos with his intelligent, pure tones.

By comparison, Aidan Smith is the voice of experience. Two mini-albums into his career, Smith approaches his duties with the kind of self-effacing cynicism that’s both endearing and baffling. Making sure his set-list is intact, as well as having plenty of handkerchiefs to hand, Smith is a shy but entertaining solo showman. His vaudevillian keyboard tones are light enough to convince Badly Drawn Boy that he is the next Bruce Springsteen. ‘Be My How?’ is a gorgeous, vulnerable love song delivered without frills, just the echo of Smith’s deadpan, matter-of-fact vocals. Breaking off in between songs to attend to his runny nose, Smith clearly doesn’t feel the need to create a romanticised image on stage. However, just when he’s about to lose a section of the crowd due to his tremendously twee geekiness, ‘Song To Delia Smith’ and then a version of the theme tune to ‘Cheers’ are enough to win over the cynical indie kids with sharp humour and falsetto jauntiness.

The last time Ryan Adams was in town, he was spotted in HMV purchasing Smith’s albums. Clearly Smith is a burgeoning talent whose influence is being noted in all the right places. Let’s just hope that the American troubadour doesn’t start carrying a brown hankie around in his guitar case.